Islamists gain control of a dozen commercial jets
Anyone see a strategy yet? A dozen commercial airplanes are missing since Islamist militias took over the airport in Tripoli, Libya.
The state-owned Libyan Airlines fleet until this summer included 14 passenger and cargo jetliners, including seven Airbus 320s, one Airbus 330, two French ATR-42 turboprop aircraft, and four Bombardier CJR-900s. Libyan state-owned Afriqiyah Airways fleet is made up of 13 aircraft, including three Airbus 319s, seven Airbus 320s, two Airbus 330s, and one Airbus 340.
The aircraft were reportedly taken in late August following the takeover of Tripoli International Airport, located about 20 miles south of the capital, by Libyan Dawn. Al Jazeera television reported in late August that western intelligence reports had warned of terror threats to the region from 11 stolen commercial jets.
The situation in the Arab Middle East continues to deteriorate, and the only way to stabilize that I can see will involve major warfare involving many countries.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Anyone see a strategy yet? A dozen commercial airplanes are missing since Islamist militias took over the airport in Tripoli, Libya.
The state-owned Libyan Airlines fleet until this summer included 14 passenger and cargo jetliners, including seven Airbus 320s, one Airbus 330, two French ATR-42 turboprop aircraft, and four Bombardier CJR-900s. Libyan state-owned Afriqiyah Airways fleet is made up of 13 aircraft, including three Airbus 319s, seven Airbus 320s, two Airbus 330s, and one Airbus 340.
The aircraft were reportedly taken in late August following the takeover of Tripoli International Airport, located about 20 miles south of the capital, by Libyan Dawn. Al Jazeera television reported in late August that western intelligence reports had warned of terror threats to the region from 11 stolen commercial jets.
The situation in the Arab Middle East continues to deteriorate, and the only way to stabilize that I can see will involve major warfare involving many countries.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Strategically all of the 11 jets should have been destroyed by some force that has the air capability (someone at a high level had to actually strategically realize the potential and push the button) to do so as things deteriorated. If you are talking about a strategy in the White House we could certainly discuss whether our leadership and its actions and inaction is either planned or just a function of incompetence, inexperience and general lack of interest or is it providing material assistance to the enemy? I will err on the side of just general incompetence, and the par for the course “voting present”, to go to the other is to dance with the devil. Which ever the real answer we have two or so years left of this “leadership”.
This “leader is a reactor, he does not act because he has a belief system that is counter to a traditional American belief system, this is a fundamental problem.
So, where does one hide eleven large jets?
Fly them to operational civilian airports in friendly nations.
No one will risk destroying then once there.
Park them in hangers there and refit them as needed undercover.
There is actually a market for stolen aircraft of any size. And that market would know how to disguise a stolen craft as a good one not on any the watch list.
As for possible uses. Their budget is the only limit.
I’m sure the fact this happed about 2 weeks before Sep 11 is just a wild coincidence.
This might be a more correct sentence:
“I’m sure the fact this WAS ALLOWED to happen about 2 weeks before Sep 11 is just a wild coincidence.”
Lets not forget the galvanizing effect all of the “fear” and “Terror” news that has been constantly fed to all of us over the last 13 years is having. The combination of the immediacy of individuals information gathering capabilities and the mass medias (multinational corporations) constant pumping of that information becomes in many ways a tool of control and a weapon of war. It becomes very difficult to determine where “truth” lies and where manipulation takes over but I am confident that when you “lead from behind” the only end result can be being behind.
Details like these planes going “missing” and their potential as weapons should never have been allowed to happen. Things do just happen, they slip through the cracks but something like this, at this time in history and under these circumstances is just plain stupid and a demonstration of our leaderships incompetence. And that is what we should all be “afraid” of.
Your assumption this admin even has a clue how to stop aircraft like that disappearing from a war zone is amusing, but really unfounded. If anything they would be pushing to not be so intrusive as to monitor all of them like that.