Extremists may target private US planes: TSA

[RamboLiberal]

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2006-04-21T153811Z_01_N21230252_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-AIRPLANES.xml&rpc=22

The Transportation Security Administration has warned aircraft owners and airport managers that Muslim extremists may be targeting private American jets and urged them to boost security.

"On April 13, 2006, a message posted in Arabic on an Internet forum explained how to identify private American jets and urged Muslims to destroy all such aircraft," the TSA said in an advisory issued on Thursday and obtained by Reuters on Friday.

The TSA quoted the Arabic message as saying: "We call upon all Muslims to follow and identify private civilian American aircrafts in all airports of the world."

"It is the duty of Muslims to destroy all types of private American aircraft that are of the types Gulfstream and Lear Jet and all small aircraft usually used by distinguished (people) and businessmen," it quoted the message as saying.

It said the message explained how to identify private U.S. jets and also provided the tail number of a private plane believed to be used by the CIA.

[OKthatsIT]

1. oh..after 5 yrs...and they come up with this announcement???

god, they are stupid.

[merwin]

2. One post on a forum is enough to start a countrywide panic?

Crazy.

[flobee1]

3. Be afraid!

terra terra terra
9/11 9/11 9/11



I'm not buying it anymore

[Poll_Blind]

4. They're going to hijack those planes and fly them into Next Christmas!

Bastards! O'Lielly was r****! (Oh, come on, even in jest it's a sin to use O'Lielly and "right" in the same sentence!

PB

[BR_Parkway]

5. Ummm, 1) Chimpy's polls are plummeting and 2) they're only thinking

about this 4 1/2 YEARS after 9/11?

Get Chertoff away from the keyboard and tell him to quit posting shit on those Arabic message boards. He has enough work to do rebuilding NO.

Sadly enough, if someone did jump into a plane and crash it into a building this weekend - the official statement would begin "Who could have imagined...."

[kurth]

6. So now we must protect $100M/yr corporate CEOs

They're people too. Arrogant, corrupt, greedy people.

[cornermouse]

7. Extremists may target anything that they think they can use.

But then, we've known that all along.

[elehhhhna]

8. So Rummy only flies commercial now?

[onehandle]

9. EVERYBODY HIDE!

And Whatever you do, DON'T go outside.

Especially in...let's say...November.

Tuesday...the first Tuesday.

[TexasLawyer]

10. Terra! Terra in the skies!

Rich people in private planes. We need more money for the '06 elections.

[Peace Patriot]

11. Extremists targeting private US planes??? Oh, you mean FOREIGN...

...extremists!

[havocmom]

12. Junta planning to Wellstone some people and need a cover story?

Sure looks like intimidation of people running for Congress this year.

[Buns_of_Fire]

13. Durn. And here I was planning on using the Lear this weekend.

On edit: It's probably just as well. I can't afford the avgas, anyway. :shrug:

[JohnyCanuck]

23. Just use one engine,

that way you'll cut the fuel cost in half.

[cosmicdot]

14. extremists may target all pursuits of happiness

'having fun', 'enjoying life', etc., deemed breeding ground for and harboring terra ... Patriot Act to be amended to disallow/ban all life activities ... no theatre ... no libraries ... no vacations ... no taxi rides ... no bus tour trips ... no nothing ... especially, no fun ... they hate us for our freedoms ... freedom is on the march ...


Bu$hCo and its fear factory is taking all the enjoyment out of life.

[Robb]

15. I call shenanigans

Total crap. General aviation is the only place left the TSA hasn't managed to make a buck off, fear-wise.

Lemme tell ya what private pilots think of terra. :eyes:

Utter, utter bullshit. But watch, we'll hire 60,000 more TSA agents to muck up little airports everywhere.

[Marie26]

16. What is this?

After five years, they suddenly notice that private planes can be targeted & ask for more security? I have a tin-foil hat theory & this is the place for it - I wonder if that private CIA plane tail number is the one they've been using for those "torture flights" of suspects to the secret CIA prisons. And I wonder if the CIA has some important flights scheduled in the near future. The CIA had problems a while ago, because plane-spotters figured out the number of the private Gulfstream Jet the CIA was using for these "extraordinary rendition" flights. (Plane-spotters are hobbyists who hang out at airports, photograph landing planes, note the time, & brag to each other about spotting "exotic" species of planes.)

So, some planespotters noticed the number of the private CIA "torture plane", and shared that info among other plane-spotters around the world. Pretty soon, the plane-spotters knew every time a CIA "torture flight" plane touched down in their country. It was an informal intelligence network, & it royally pissed off the CIA, because their records helped journalists & human rights groups to expose the scope of this secret rendition program. Plane-spotters who are near the runway can sometimes be stopped for trespassing, especially when there is a security alert. This would prevent them from snapping pictures or logging any incoming flights. It's interesting that the "alert" mentions private business planes, & CIA planes by name - so anyone snapping pictures of these particular planes would look especially suspicious to airport security. I think this new "security advisory" is more about keeping plane-spotters away from potentially important new CIA rendition flights.

This is sort of obvious: The TSA quoted the Arabic message as saying: "We call upon all Muslims to follow and identify private civilian American aircrafts in all airports of the world." (well, who really does that, Muslims, or plane-spotters?). "It is the duty of Muslims to destroy all types of private American aircraft that are of the types Gulfstream and Lear Jet and all small aircraft usually used by distinguished (people) and businessmen," it quoted the message as saying. (and what kinds of planes fit that description? The CIA "rendition flights" were flown on a private Gulfstream Jet.). ... also provided the tail number of a private plane believed to be used by the CIA. (the number of the CIA plane has been circulated - among plane-spotters). If you replace "Muslims" w/planespotters, I think you can see the real target of this advisory.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,12780,1664147,00.html - Guardian: How planespotters turned into the scourge of the CIA.

[Peace Patriot]

18. Thanks for this info! I think you are right on. They also want total

paranoid screaming fear everywhere. Little airports are some of the last sane places in the U.S. Get a spot of tea or a glass of wine, and sit outside at a picnic table and enjoy the sky and the prop planes and the ambience; hop onto a little charter to somewhere (if you can afford it). The total fascist state they are aiming at has no tolerance for relaxation or freedom.

However, I think you are right that this is a much more targeted repression--to get rid of planespotters, and also to put the newsturd in the newstream about small planes getting blown up, or falling out of the sky for no reason, for future use in case needed.

I wonder if the junta and its lapdogs in the corporate news monopolies realize that their credibility has reached zero.

[Marie26]

19. Notify your local plane-spotter! :)

I'm not kidding, I really think they're planning some major CIA flights soon & are making sure to secure the area first. They've learned from prior experience how much info plane-spotters can gather. And it does have the side-benefit of expanding Homeland Security & TSA authority into the private plane airports that have maintained some independence till this point. Got to have some new TSA security screeners to address this new "threat". And can I add how odd it is that we're all just casually accepting that our government is now flying secret CIA flights to torture people?

[54anickel]

21. Everybody needs a hobby I guess. Great article, thanks for posting.

Your theory certainly makes a lot of sense in light of the planespotters.

I used to love to hang out at the airport in my younger days to watch the planes and play "I spy" with the gang. I'm sure we'd be arrested for that sort of horse-play now, but it was great fun on a rainy weekend with nothing better to do.

[AlCzervik]

17. My dad has a small charter company, they've been all over security since

9/11, private planes are the least of our problems. How about guarding nuclear sites or say the second largest propane holding facility thats in my town?

[Jack_DeLeon]

20. fearmongering is a time tested method for government agencies to get money

I guess the TSA wants more money to throw some more of those fancy parties they have.

[sutz12]

22. Really, really pathetic BS

On small planes, people know each other. Strangers just don't get access.

"Hello. My name is Mohammed al-Fuckallyou and I'd like to charter a plane for a one way trip to the US Congress."

[greyl]

24. Sounds like a hoax.

Not from the TSA, but from whoever posted the message.
Better safe than sorry, eh? If the TSA said nothing and an incident occurred, we'd be all over their ass for being incompetent and covering it up. Wouldn't we?

The last line is pretty goofy:
"It said the theft of any private airplane should immediately be reported to law enforcement and TSA."

Gee, thanks for the advice.

[HuffleClaw]

25. back to the days of the daily terra THREAT ?

that is their idea of dealing with bush's freefalling poll numbers?