Libercontrarian

Crushed between the wheels of capitalism and big government.

I Smell Trouble

An Olympic Airlines flight from Greece to the U.S. was diverted today because of a bomb-threat (Thanks to Macedonian Press Agency via Big News Network.com). This is the second time in a week that this has happened; here's a paragraph from Guardian UK about the first hoax:

"The alert came after the Greek newspaper Ethnos received the anonymous warning call. According to a tape made available to journalists by the newspaper, the caller said: "Flight 411 Olympic for America has a bomb for Iraq."

In a second call, a voice sounding like another person said: "Are you listening? Flight 411 Olympic for America - bomb. America will see. Six o'clock message for you." Authorities immediately notified the pilot, who asked for a military escort."

When you read about the second hoax, you will discover that it was the same flight - Flight 411. What could this mean?

I am wondering now if al-Qaida is testing the waters for a new attack on America to influence the elections. What would happen if, say, they call in bomb threats to two or three hundred inbound international and U.S. domestic flights, causing our rickety security apparatus to overload, then drive a Ryder truck filled with ANFO to the U.N. building, or to the State Department, or to the Sears Tower?

Have we ever considered a scenario in which the enemy simply arms 100 men with commonly available rifles and sends them into shopping malls in 50 states, all at, say, 7:00 EST? They could kill as many people in a few minutes as they did on September 11, 2001...

Here are two questions leaders in government should be able to answer with confidence: Do we have enough overload capacity, communications capability, feet-on-the-ground, and early-response capability in our security apparatus to handle multiple, divergent threats? Have we interdicted any persons attempting to commit acts of terrorism against U.S. citizens on our soil since 9/11?

posted by: underwhelmed at September 28, 2004 10:13 | link | comments (2) |

Comments:

#1  28 September 2004 - 21:54

 

A good case for why some of us would like to have renewed the Brady law ... so that at least they wouldn't walk into the shopping mall with their AK 47s legally.

::ducking

Urb

Walkerjar@aol.com

Anonymous

#2  28 September 2004 - 22:42

 

This is an intellectually dishonest statement, unless you didn't know this fact (this is a possibility, since you are not a person who likely understands gun culture):

You can go out, right this very moment, to a gun store, and buy a new, legal AK-47-style rifle. Many have been imported from Romania, and upon receipt in the U.S., are made legal by the replacement of several U.S.-made parts.

In fact, I could have bought an AK, and indeed did buy, an AR-15 during the alleged "ban." Remember, the ban did nothing to actually limit access to these guns; it was lip service - no "flash hiders," no "bayonet mounts," no "pistol grips."

Assuming you didn't know this to be true, you should educate yourself about the subject by going to this website, and boning up on what the ban was about.

underwhelmed

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