The Kudzu Files

Planes, Trains, and Middle Eastern Men

The story of Northwest Flight 327 on June 29 is making the rounds in the blogosphere. I've read the original article; I've seen blog entries about it, and related stories, at MicheleMalkin.com, A Small Victory, and The Moderate Voice. Joe Gandleman at TMV also references another piece in the Washington Times (I have to admit that I always see the Washington Times as a little bit suspect, but that's probably just me). When I first saw a reference to this, I figured it was someone gone a little freaky by the unending series of terror alerts issued by Tom Ridge. And after reading the article about NW #327, I'm still not sure it wasn't just that. With all the emphasis on security, it just doesn't seem possible that something this open, this overt, could be happening. Many airline passengers are on edge, and have been for the past 34 months. And with the Madrid train bombings, and warnings of possible train bombings here, concerns can easily go from high but rational to irrational. But there's something about these stories that's more than a little disturbing. It's like the scene in "Close Encounters" when the ground crew thinks all the aliens have gone away, and suddenly one lone dish locks in.

It doesn't, however, necessarily mean these are dry runs, or abortive attempts. They could just as easily be twisted facades, meant to frighten people, and spread a certain level of terror by simply appearing to be doing something. They could also be nothing more than coincidental gatherings, musicians as I read somewhere. If that's the case, then given the current state of affairs, they're showing very poor judgement. Yes, it's unfair to view any gathering of Middle Eastern men as a potential terrorism plot, but the reality is that under certain circumstances, like on an in-flight plane, that's what some people are going to do.

So - when I read these articles, some - not all, but some - of the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It's creepy.

Posted by hboswell at July 22, 2004 08:42 PM | TrackBack