Terror in the Skies, Part Cinco

The Washington Times is reporting that a second passenger has been located that confirms Annie Jacobsen's story about suspicious behavior aboard a flight from Detroit to LA.

The report indicates that Congress has gotten involved in investigating this incident, however the Homeland Security Department states that they "doubted" Annie Jacobsen's account. Furthermore, when department officials were asked about reports of "terrorists making dry runs", they said "it has no intelligence on such activities." Perhaps they should ask the flight personnel who are reporting that they "see these dry runs and are very concerned"?

Why does it seem that the Homeland Security Department is reluctant to investigate incidents like this and has such a cavalier attitude about what could be the early indications of something terrible?

In a story published yesterday the Washington Times reported that

An Immigration Customs Enforcement official said Monday the men had overstayed their visit and should have returned on June 10, but a Homeland Security Department spokesman said they learned late Tuesday that an extension had been granted through July 15.

So they really were here legally.

In a more bothersome part of the story, the Time reports

One staffer who attended the briefing said officials were "very cagey" on details, which he described as "very frustrating."

However, the officials confirmed air marshals found the activities unusual and suspicious.

"They are trying to have it both ways and say yes, our people are smart enough to see something and that's why they called for authorities, but they deny it was as scary as it has been portrayed," the staffer said.

Homeland Security officials say they have no intelligence that terrorists are conducting dry runs on airplanes.

Federal air marshals and pilots also back Mrs. Jacobsen's account as similar to other incidents, and say terrorists constantly are probing security.

The Federal Air Marshals Association yesterday requested a meeting with top Homeland Security officials to discuss the issue of terrorist dry runs.

"A test run for terrorism is not to be ignored," said Bob Flamm, director of the association. "When a citizen stands up and speaks out in regard to air safety, it is the responsibility of law-enforcement officials involved to seek out the truth and not bury it."

This smells a great deal like CYA. I'd be a lot more comfortable if officials would just be honest with the public, as the director suggests.

On July 19, the New York Daily News published an article entitled Jet's Crew Called FBI In Hijack Scare, reporting that

The bizarre behavior of 14 Syrian musicians on a flight from Detroit to Los Angeles last month prompted a jittery Northwest Airlines flight crew to alert the FBI of a possible hijacking, officials said yesterday.

Los Angeles police and agents from the FBI, Federal Air Marshals Service and the Transportation Security Administration swarmed the group when the flight landed on June 29, but federal law-enforcement officials said that none of the men were on any terrorist watch list.

"They were interviewed at the airport and we found out that they were musicians on their way to a gig. Period," said a senior FBI official. "There was no terrorism nexus."

But the flight attendants and pilots aboard Northwest Flight 327 believed otherwise after apparently observing the Syrians crowd around bathrooms and emergency exits throughout the long flight - including just before landing, according to one passenger's written account.

"[The flight crew] said there was something hinky that they were concerned about and it was radioed in," said the senior FBI official.

At least two passengers were bothered enough by the musicians' behavior to report it to the media. The flight crew was bothered enough to contact the FBI during the flight. The Federal Air Marshals confirm that there are "dry runs" all the time and confirm the passengers' accounts of the flight. Yet the Homeland Security Department says they have "no intelligence" of any dry runs?

Have we made any progress since 9/11? Can't we even get officials from two different departments to talk to each other? At least the Washington Times is asking the same questions.

This story has more twists and turns than Mulholland Drive.