Connect the Dots: F-16s Scrambled for Two Separate Flights Today; Three Detroit Passengers Detained

If these similarly themed incidents don't smack of dry runs, I'm not sure what might qualify.

F-16 fighter jets were scrambled in two separate incidents Sunday, trailing a New York-bound American Airlines jetliner and a Frontier Airlines flight to Detroit after reports of passengers acting suspiciously...

...The incident aboard American Airlines Flight 34 to New York from Los Angeles began at 3 p.m. EDT when the plane's crew notified homeland-security officials of passengers allegedly behaving suspiciously. Two military jets shadowed the plane until it landed safely at John F. Kennedy International Airport at 4:10 p.m. EDT... Police greeted the plane at the gate and interviewed some of the passengers after they landed. It wasn't clear whether any charges would be filed...

...A similar incident played out aboard Frontier Flight 623, which originated in San Diego with a stop in Denver before arriving at Detroit Metro Airport... Two passengers were observed "spending an extraordinarily long time in the lavatory," Frontier spokesman Peter Kowalchuk said... the plane was swept for explosives, and was cleared. Three passengers were removed from the plane and taken into custody, authorities said.

In both cases, multiple passengers locked themselves in lavatories for an extended period of time, alarming crew-members.

Police detained three passengers at Detroit's Metropolitan Airport on Sunday after the crew of the Frontier Airlines flight from Denver reported suspicious activity on board and NORAD officials sent F-16 jets to shadow the flight until it landed safely... Flight 623, with 116 passengers on board, landed without incident in Detroit after the crew reported that two people were spending an unusual amount of time in a bathroom...

The Airbus 318 taxied to a pad away from the terminal and police took three passengers into custody... Authorities cleared the aircraft after it was search [sic], the Transportation Security Administration said... Luggage had been removed from the aircraft to be inspected by K-9 police sniffer dogs.

The crew had reported that at least two individuals were spending "an extraordinarily long time" in the bathrooms. The three removed from the plane in handcuffs included two men and a woman.

In the case of American Airlines Flight 34, odd behavior in the area of the plane's lavatories was also observed.

Sources told CBS News, the three passengers on Flight 34 were disruptive, moving in and out of lavatories, even at one point locking themselves inside.

American Airlines spokesman confirmed that the incident began with "suspicious behavior" observed in the area of the jetliner's lavatory... three passengers refused to come out of a bathroom on a flight originating in Los Angeles.

I, for one, suspect Militant Quakers.

The 9/11 monument in New Jersey you never heard about

Gee, our crack mainstream media must have accidentally dropped this story behind the vending machine.

Politics or Poppycock has a series of photos depicting a monument to the victims of 9/11 in Bayonne, New Jersey. He writes, "I'm stunned. I have never heard, seen or read anything about this. Isn't it wonderful to live in a country where the media controls what we should know?"

The monument is a gift to the people of America from the citizens of Russia signifying the importance of the war against global terrorism.

Oops. That face may be one of the reasons our beloved mainstream media "forgot" to report the story.

The impressive teardrop monument is truly striking.

The names of the victims of 9/11 are inscribed on a memorial wall.

Perhaps some enterprising reporter could let us know exactly what year this monument was installed.

They'll just have to remember not to call the hijackers "Islamists" or "terrorists", because I don't think President Obama approves of those terms.


Hat tip: Contrairimairi.

IDF General: "Arab Spring" Poised to Turn Into "Radical Islamist Winter"

Consider the so-called "Arab Spring" a reprise of the Carter Doctrine, as it were. To wit: show weakness, stall as long as possible before making decisions, and tacitly condone the Middle East's most radical elements.

IDF Major General Eyal Eisenberg warned last week that the so-called “Arab Spring” may ultimately turn into a “radical Islamic winter.” Recent events in Egypt and elsewhere in the region indicate that this grim assessment is materializing at a rapid pace right before our eyes.

...the growing Mideastern chaos has shattered any semblance of regional stability, allowing the darkest, most radical forces to erupt and increasingly set the tone. What we saw in Egypt [Ed: the storming of the Israeli embassy] over the weekend was merely the beginning. Much worse is yet to come.

Arab affairs expert Guy Bechor notes that the siege and near-lynch at Israel’s Cairo embassy is first and foremost a domestic affair, reflecting the great deterioration on Egypt’s streets. The orgy of violence and lawlessness we witnessed marks the rise of Islamists and street thugs and the State’s declining ability to impose law and order.

...In Libya, rebels are dusting off what’s left of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, under the leadership of none other than “former Jihadist” Abdel Hakim Belhaj... post-revolution Tripoli has already become a menace to regional stability. Last week, Israeli officials warned that Palestinians in Gaza have acquired anti-aircraft and anti-tank rockets from Libya. Meanwhile, the European Union’s counter-terrorism’s chief warned that al-Qaeda may have also secured arms looted in the Libyan conflict, including surface-to-air missiles that could threaten commercial airliners.

On the tenth anniversary of the horrific attacks of 9/11, it is worth asking the question:

How did President Obama arrive at his decisions to: (a) actively support the overthrow of a U.S. ally (Hosni Mubarak); (b) fail to support Iran's Green Revolution; (c) support Libya's rebels, whose leaders represent the most radical Islamists imaginable; and (d) fail to support Syria's attempted overthrow of the Iranian puppet dictator Bashar as-Assad?

For you drones: that's a rhetorical question.


Hat tips: Dan from New York and The Telegraph (photo of Neda).

Photos: London Islamists commemorate 9/11 by burning U.S. flags, breaking moment of silence with megaphones, celebrating mass murder

Un-indicted co-conspirator CAIR hardest hit:

Islamic supremacism, triumphalism, and hurling insults against the soldiers who defend the rights they have chosen to mock and abuse...

"9/11 anniversary: Muslim protesters burn US flag outside embassy in London," by Andy Bloxam for the Telegraph, September 11:

A number of radical Islamic groups including Muslims Against Crusades (MAC) gathered outside the embassy on the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

The group of around 100 men shouted "USA terrorists", brandished anti-American placards and chanted through a loudhailer.

Several members of the Muslim groups made anti-American speeches following the flag burning.

One said: "You will always face suffering, you will always face humiliation, unless you withdraw your troops from Muslim lands."

Another declared that America had been "defeated in Iraq and defeated in Afghanistan".

Members of the group publicly burned a poppy on Armistice Day in a similar stunt.

True to form, legacy U.S. media completely ignored the death-worshipers' celebration in London.


Update: Report: Two EDL members stabbed by Islamists.

9/11: The Dreams That Fly Away

All mankind will pass before You

like members of the flock.

Like a shepherd pasturing his flock,

making sheep pass under his staff,

so shall You cause to pass, count, calculate, and consider the soul of all the living;

and You shall apportion the fixed needs of all Your creatures

and inscribe their verdict.

For Your Name signifies Your praise:

hard to anger and easy to appease,

for You do not wish the death of one deserving death,

but that he repent from his way and live.

Until the day of his death You await him;

if he repents You will accept him immediately.

It is true that You are their Creator and

You know their inclination,

for they are flesh and blood.

Our origin is dust and our end is dust.

At the hazard of our life we earn our bread.

We are like a fragile vessel,

like the grass that withers

the flower that fades,

the shadow that passes,

the cloud that vanishes,

the wind that blows,

the dust that floats,

the dreams that fly away

Verily.

The dreams that fly away.

Your kingship is an eternal kingship.

Your dominion is for all generations.

Libya Rebel Commander: "An Islamist? Moi?"

Dan from New York:

This should quiet all the bitter skeptics who said Obama’s Libyan adventure would wind up trading Qaddafi for something worse.

Libya Rebel Commander Plays Down Islamist Past

September 02, 2011 | Associated Press



TRIPOLI, Libya -- The rebels' Tripoli military commander, a former leader of an Islamic militant group that sent fighters to Iraq and Afghanistan, insisted Friday that the new Libya will shun extremism and won't become a breeding ground for terrorism.



The commander, Abdel Hakim Belhaj, said he was detained in 2004 in Malaysia and sent to a secret prison in Thailand where he was tortured by CIA agents. Then he was sent to Libya and jailed for seven years by Muammar Qaddafi's regime.



But Belhaj, 45, played down his Islamist past, seeking to allay concerns about his emergence as a prominent figure in the Western-backed Libyan opposition movement.



He insisted he holds no grudges against the West because of the shared goal of ousting Qaddafi... Belhaj was a leader in the now dissolved Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which was deemed a terror group by the U.S. But he said he refused to join Al Qaeda because he disagreed with its ideology of global jihad, or holy war, and wanted to focus on ridding Libya of Qaddafi.



He said he never agreed with Al Qaeda's ideology of global jihad, or holy war, but only wanted to focus on ridding Libya of Qaddafi... Qaddafi, in courting the West in recent years, has insisted Al Qaeda would gain influence in Libya unless he remained in power...



Belhaj dismissed those concerns... "We never have and never will support what they call terrorism," he said.



"Libya is a moderate Muslim country," he said. "We are a simple people with a simple cultural makeup and we have never had extremist ideas. And if there ever were any they were an exception."

Why, this is the "Arab Spring", so what could possibly go wrong?

Gunrunner Tip: U.S. city officials smuggled guns to Mexican cartels... under the watchful eyes of federal agents

This story could give you chills.



I wrote a few days ago about the city officials in New Mexico's border town of Columbus indicted for smuggling firearms and tactical gear to the La Linea drug cartel. As it turns out, that case may be linked to "Operation Fast and Furious", the malevolent Justice Department project that shipped thousands of murder weapons to Mexican drug gangs.



Here's the interesting part -- over the transom comes the following tip:

Read Counts 23 and 24 of the indictment, on page 9 of 26 of the indictment, available here:



In Count 23, On January 25, 2011, federal agent(s) watched as two suspects purchased a total of 20 American Tactical 9mm pistols from an FFL in New Mexico, drove with two more persons about 27.5 miles in about 32 minutes to an apartment in El Paso, TX. They stopped at a Kmart and bought a black backpack. They entered the apartment with the black backpack and the box containing the 20 pistols. Shortly two individuals exited the apartment, with the now-full black backpack and drove, with the black backpack, in an unmarked Ford F-150 police vehicle registered to the village of Columbus, TX to the El Paso bus station (which is less than 1/4 mile from the Santa Fe Bridge Border Crossing between El Paso and Juarez).



In count 24, on January 27, 2011, federal agents watched as a Honda Pilot with Chihuahua plates occupied by two of the men from the Jan. 25 event, and an unknown female, pulled up to the apartment. Two men unloaded and carried into the apartment a large black suitcase. Two hours later, one of the men who had bought guns on Jan. 25 exited the apartment, wheeled the large black suitcase to the unmarked Ford F-150 police vehicle registered to the village of Columbus, NM, and drove to the El Paso bus station (yep, the one less than 1/4 mile from the Santa Fe Bridge Border Crossing between El Paso and Juarez).



So how do the statements made in those two counts in the indictment square with paragraph ten of the media's story announcing the arrests and unsealing of the indictment?



"As part of the investigation, every effort was made to seize firearms from defendants to prevent them from entering into Mexico, and no weapons were knowingly permitted to cross the border."



The agents followed the straw buyers for more than half-an-hour from Chaparral, NM to El Paso, TX. The agents watched as a bundle they had to suspect contained firearms was driven to a bus station within 1/4 mile of the border. The agents watched the apartment for two days. The agents then watched as a second container they might reasonably have suspected contained firearms was driven to the same bus station within 1/4 mile of the border.



How many opportunities did they have to interdict the firearms along the way?



How far from the border do they have to be when they avert their gaze to say they did not "knowingly" allow firearms to cross the border?



There is no indication that any of these 20 9mm pistols were seized or in any way accounted for. The activities reported in both counts 23 and 24 happened more than one month after the death of US Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry.

Those are damn good questions.



So I repeat: what did Eric Holder know? And when did he know it?

Israel Having Hard Time Boycotting Turkey

Dan from New York:

Israel’s security cabinet met in an emergency session today to decide on a response to Turkey’s expulsion of Israel’s ambassador. Among the actions discussed was a boycott of Turkish exports, but no decision was reached since none of the ministers present could think of anything Turkey actually exports. (BBC)

Gunwalker: Heard about the city officials in New Mexico who were smuggling guns to drug cartels in U.S. police cars?

Several city officials of the New Mexico border town of Columbus recently admitted they smuggled firearms and tactical gear to the La Linea drug cartel. And now, it turns out, that case may be linked to "Operation Fast and Furious", the malevolent Justice Department project that shipped thousands of murder weapons to Mexican drug gangs.

The Columbus gun smuggling case might be linked to a national case... The mayor, police chief and a trustee have all pled guilty to running guns to the Juarez drug cartel "La Linea".



At a hearing for police Chief Angelo Vega on Thursday, it was revealed that six of those weapons may be connected to "Operation Fast and Furious"[, ...] an ATF program that allowed thousands of guns to cross into Mexico so that federal agents could track them.



Now "Fast and Furious" is under investigation, because officials lost track of more than a third of the guns, many of which were linked to shootings.

Last month it was revealed that Columbus city officials were using the town's police cars and other equipment to run guns to the cartels.

The former mayor of a New Mexico border town pleaded guilty to gun smuggling charges four months after he was arrested in a federal sting.



On Tuesday, Eddie Espinoza, 51, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy, three counts of making false statements, and three counts of smuggling firearms from the United States.



The guilty plea means the former mayor of the village of Columbus could face up to 50 years in a federal prison.



In March, federal agents arrested Espinoza and several others, including Columbus Chief of Police Angelo Vega and village Trustee Blas Gutierrez.



Federal documents state the group smuggled more than 200 guns from New Mexico to the streets of Cíudad Juárez and Palomas, Chihuahua. The documents further state that at times the group used unmarked police cars registered to Columbus to smuggle the guns across the border... the guns [were connected] to at least eight murders in those cities.

Gunwalker is a bigger scandal than Watergate. American law enforcement officials have been killed by the weapons smuggled to the drug cartels by a rogue Justice Department.



If we had a real media in this country, a firestorm of outrage would have already been ignited among the electorate. And the most partisan Attorney General in American history -- Eric Holder -- would be testifying every day in front of Congress.