Men from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria began going to immigration offices for a second round of registrations this month.

Have we learned nothing? 15/19 were Saudi, one Egyptian, etc...

This is ... disappointing but unsurprising. We as a nation are firmly committed to death by PC/multiculturalism. But only us knucke-dragging rednecks at lfg see this.

The only way to catch islamic terrorists coming to America is to screen every muslim and arab.

Lutheran grannies from Sweden are not the problem.

Every time I see an article like this I am filled with a deepening sense of dread that it's going to take another 9/11, or something a hundred times worse, to make this country really WAKE UP and deal with this threat properly ... but I fear even that might not be enough sometimes.

*sigh*

OT:

Pigs Flying Moment of the Day courtesy of Israpundit University of Toronto in Canada blocks meeting of Palestinian group

A pro-Palestinian group will not be allowed to hold a conference at the University of Toronto this weekend because the organization required members to agree to a mandatory list of beliefs that include rejection of the right of Israel to exist and a refusal to condemn Palestinian suicide attacks.

Dhimmi watch put on hold for now. Lets wait for the seething and whining to begin. In fact since the Arabs are so good at coopting all things Jewish for their own twisted evil designs, they may even start kvetching.

That program, which is scheduled to begin in January, is not to be specifically directed at Muslims and Arabs, he said.

Excellent. Resources are thin, so let's make them thinner, and aim it at the wrong goddamn people.

WOTMA.

"Officials have acknowledged that most of the Arabs and Muslims who have complied with the requirements had no ties to terrorist groups."

Oh, well then, that explains it.
Owww! My freakin' head!

By that logic, given the number of times ejection seats have been used by pilots exiting structurally unsound aircraft, the DOD should remove them from all aircraft.
I mean, do you know how expensive those things are?

Ugh... this kind of political correctness is a recipe for another attack on the scale of 9/11.

By the way, the results of the Watcher's Council vote can be found here on my new blog.

#2 should have read "knuckle" not "knucke". But I'm sure you knew that.

#5 Colt 11/22/2003 12:22PM PST

WOTMA.

Indeed. I fail to see how any Bush supporter - myself included - can defend this move in terms of long-term plans and info that we the public have no access to.

This is naked appeasement.

Speaking for myself personally (which I do a lot), I'd feel a lot safer with these new guildlines in place.

I don't see why only Muslims should be targeted, when we all know quite well the insidious potential of seething white Methodists from South Wales. This whole Muslim thing has been so blown out of proportion.

SLAM!

This is the same doofus mentality that calls Islam "a religion of peace", that is going to court martial LTC West and that is cracking down on the fedayeen in Iraq by bombing empty houses after politely requesting the inhabitants(terrorists) to leave.

Sure, let's let them all in. Can you imagine letting avowed Communists intot the United States en masse during the height of the Cold War? That is what is going on today.

Moslems are not immigrants; they are invaders. They come to America for conquest, to inegrate into the American way of life.

Rome was never conquered. It was eroded by vandals who moved in and corrupted the beliefs of the society.

There should be a moratorium on allowing any more Moslems into this country. Enough is enough. The Moslems are all complicit with terrorism.

Remember "islam" means "submission." It is built into the tenets of the religion that all Christians and Jews must be made to bow to Allah any way possible. Now how do you integrate that belief into America?

You know, Jews are just as likely to be terrorists.

Same goes for little old Christian ladies from Topeka, Kansas.

We must not be unfair, and act as if it's Muslims who are spreading death and destruction around the globe. You never know when the next Quaker suicide mass murder attack will occur.

/politically correct Muslim pandering Hollywood left-wing moron OFF

Unless, of course, this turns out to be a case of "watch what we do, not what we say." If that is the case, then I don't care what they say to get these Seethers and Whiners™ to STFU.

If only we had the will ...

Muslim Exclusion Act
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1

An act to execute certain stipulations relating to Muslims.

Preamble. Whereas, in the opinion of the Government of the United States the coming of Muslims to this country endangers the good order of certain localities within the territory thereof:

Therefore,

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the expiration of thirty days next after the passage of this act, and until the expiration of one hundred years next after the passage of this act, the coming of Muslims to the United States be, and the same is hereby, suspended; and during such suspension it shall not be lawful for any Muslim to come, or, having so come after the expiration of said thirty days, to remain within the United States.

Way OT -

Someone had mentioned a while back that Instapundit doesn't link to LGF anymore. I didn't think much of it but today he links to the article on the Financial Times site about the EU shelving the anti-semitism report, that Charles had up yesterday. Is it true that Insta doesn't link to LGF anymore? Just wondering why if so.

No no no you're getting it all wrong.

11 of those who registered had ties to terrorism.

Not all registered.

What can one automatically expect from someone who did not register? that he's up to something naughty - at the very least of a criminal nature.

I'm curious to know how many did not register,
and I'm willing to bet they have at least some knowledge of the names & background under which they came to the US.

Maybe somebody else could do the math here, but I would guestimate that 11 to 85,000 may not be far off from the percentange of radicals to moderates. Unfortunately, we know the damage that the small percentage can and has inflicted; we also know all too well that most of the so-called moderates have not done much to curtail these actvitives, and, indeed, some have assisted them with "immoral" or monetary support.

#16, outsider

OK--11 of the 85,000 who registered had ties to terrorists.

85,000 out of________? How many men (and why only men? some of the most successful homicide bombers have been women) who should have registered, did not? And what, if anything, was done about them?

I have a feeling I'd rather not hear the answers.
But I wish the NYT had asked.

#15 Woda,

Is it true that Insta doesn't link to LGF anymore?

LGF certainly is linked in Instadude's blogroll. It's under "Charles Johnson" rather than LGF, but U.S.S. Clueless is linked as Steven Den Beste, so I don't see it as dissin' Charles, or LGF as a whole.

I haven't noticed him link a story directly from LGF recently, but he may figure that anyone on his site is, for the most part, hitting LGF anyway. Absent any explicit dis from the Instadude (which I haven't seen, and I'm touchy about such matters :-), I'd have to say that the rumor is likely false.

If Glen or Charles would like to clarify, well, they are more qualified than I to speak on this matter.

..the program might be superseded by an effort in which immigration officials at 115 airports and 14 seaports will begin collecting digital fingerprints and photographs from foreign visitors who enter the United States with visas.

At least that will help them identify the terrorists after they've blown up themselves and a bunch of innocent people.

Caught eleven, but DISCOURAGED how many more?

It gets even more precious:
Protest over registration

Under the procedure, which began last November, 83,519 people registered with immigration officials as of Sept. 30. Of those, 13,799 were put in deportation proceedings, according to officials.

Well, I'll be damned.

#8 Thom

It's a shame, I was getting to like Bush a little more since the visit here. He banters with the press, the cops, the troops, etc. He made some great (though flawed) speeches. He's getting the hang of this president gig.

But I stand by "WOTMA".

Charles, I am screaming with you.

I am going to use, and encourage others to use the list of media address you compiled. But what in God's name can be done about the nitwits in the state department? What can a peon like me who works at least 9 hours a day do? I don't say this as an excuse, I truely want to do something.

I feel powerless as I see our culture and society attacked daily, aided by decisions like this.

#22, outsider

How many were actually deported? And for what reasons? How many were caught who should have registered, but failed to do so? Are they automatically deported? ("Put in deportation proceedings" does not = deportation, does it?)

I smell two big letters: P C

This "new and improved registration" scheme has the same flaws that any gun control scheme will have. These laws will only be obeyed by the law abiding people. The ones we are really interested in, the criminals and illegals, will take one look at this law and laugh thier a$$es off.

It should be compusory for everyone to be required to submit finger prints and a DNA sample upon entry to the United States, or get the hell back to where you came from.

Blech.

observer (#18,#25)

I can't seem to find an old article about the program when it began. It had an estimated number of people who should register.
As for your other questions, I don't know how many of them will be deported. The numbers are too high to be ignored even if you are exceptionally optimistic.

#5 Colt ,

Get rid of the Democratic Party.

Until then, it is rather obvious that anything that Bush does can and will be used against him. That doesn't freeze him in place, but it does put some pretty severe restrictions in place.

To step outside the war, look at the Medicare Prescription Drug "benifit" (read give-away) that Bush has been pushing for.

We haven't been able to get even such a sane measure as means-testing (i.e. they don't tax me to pay for somebody with 5o million in the bank's drugs). No, we must have Welfare for the rich, as long as they are old.

Had Bush fought that, he'd have been portrayed as trying to butcher old people. He sucked it up, and did what was necessary to get re-elected.

When you look at his opposition, it is hard to call that unpatriotic.

I've said it before; the next major battle in the War is the Bush re-election campaign.

If we lose that, four years of Howard Dean will lose the war.

#27 lone voice abu mullah medulla(h) 11/22/2003 01:15PM PST

This "new and improved registration" scheme has the same flaws that any gun control scheme will have. These laws will only be obeyed by the law abiding people. The ones we are really interested in, the criminals and illegals, will take one look at this law and laugh thier a$$es off.

It should be compusory for everyone to be required to submit finger prints and a DNA sample upon entry to the United States, or get the hell back to where you came from.

Boy is that the truth.

Perhaps this will generate enough of a stir to prevent it from happening.

Unless people want another 9-11 attack, I think immigrants from every Muslim country should have fingerprint/picture checks as part of the visa process, and those who show up without should be detained until they are complete.

BTW, it'd be nice to put a little bit of consequence to being in the US illegally. I'd support building detention centers around the country, in which every person caught here illegally would go before a judge ( to prevent "innocent" immigrants who had minor visa issues from being detained), and get up to one year in a federal camp before being deported. Deportation isn't much of a deterrent to coming back again, a year living in the equivalent of a prison ( but no color TV) might actually make them think twice about coming back.

#29 Iron Fist

I have no illusions about the Democratic Party. But we are not prosecuting the war to our full means, not even close.

#29 Iron Fist

We haven't been able to get even such a sane measure as means-testing (i.e. they don't tax me to pay for somebody with 5o million in the bank's drugs). No, we must have Welfare for the rich, as long as they are old.

I definitely agree. It is galling. Another cost of the WOT, no other way to look at it.

OT.

Despite the festive air on nighttime streets bathed in neon and crowded with late-model SUVs and sedans during these last days of the holy month of Ramadan, Saudi Arabia is a country on edge. In the past six months, Islamic militants who largely left the kingdom alone have worked to destabilize it with a succession of suicide bombings and armed attacks.

The nervousness extends to the royal family's aging leadership and its offspring, who from behind the ornate walls of their palaces could hear the explosion that ripped apart the Muhaya residential complex and killed 17 people on Nov. 9. "Some of the sons are saying they will lose the country unless there is real change," one Saudi official said.....

"For 30 years, the country has been living in a mosque, and letting people out after all that time is not going to be easy," said one Saudi writer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "The logic of reform puts the royal family on a collision course with the clerics. It could be bloody -- I hope not -- but it has to be done. For the people, of course, but also for themselves if they're smart. And I think the al-Sauds have always been smartest when they're in trouble."

Saudi Blast Bares a Nation On Edge

#29 Iron Fist

That said, the idea of giving old people medicine doesn't really strike me as a big deal. And I say that as someone who'd like to get people off welfare, privatise, etc.

Does the average American really have a problem with things like the Patriot Act?

I think the administration at times may underestimate the will of the American people. Speaking of the November 2004, if this country waits until then to do something about Iran than it'll be too late.

#32 Colt,

Of course not.

If we did prosecute the war to our full means, it would end T-30 minutes and counting. We have always been trying to titrate (as it were) the amount of force used, etc.

Once we chose not to go full-bore, political considerations must come into play. Bush is doing as much as he can safely get away with per the US electorate. Indeed, his re-election is not a done deed.

OTOH, if he is not re-elected, I think the Islamonazis (and mainstream Muslims as well) may come to regret it.

T-30 minutes and counting...

We can always end this war, Colt.

We just have to be willing to pay the butcher's bill to do so.

If not re-elected W might decide a quick finish to the war was in order. I doubt that even Dennis Kucinich would surrender to al Qaeda after 800 million Muslims were killed.

Well, maybe Kucinich ould, but surly not Howard Dean…

Colt, once you start having the government paying for medicine for all seniors, regardless of need, you have another huge entitlement.

BTW, if the govt. pays for all drugs normally used by the seniors, expect prices to go up. There is no reason to keep prices down if high prices don't affect demand.

Govt. programs like this always distort markets.

When the program grows even more expensive than expected, the next step will be govt. price controls on drugs, which would seem like a good idea at first, but is another step down the road to socialized medicine.

#32 Iron Fist

You know what I mean. There's a hell of a margin between levelling the Islamic world, and having a sensible amount of airport security.

But, yes, political considerations must play some element in Bush's decisions.

Democracy, eh? {Sigh}

#37 Ed Moran

I know, I know. But something about denying old people medicine seems wrong.

#39 Colt

Let them eat cat food!

/marie antionette

#37/Ed Moran,

You got it. I work for a Medicare contractor that investigates fraud. The drug benefit will make prices go up. That's exactly what happened when Medicare set up a DME (durable medical equipment) benefit. Prices on equipment have gone up astronomically and fraud is huge because it is so easy. It will be equally easy to defraud under a drug benefit. I imagine I'll be looking for a different job in a few years when the $$ runs out.

DBC

We certainly don't want to offend anyone do we?

SICK, SICK,SICK

#34 Colt,

Tell ya what.

My blood-pressure meds run me $75 a month.

Why don't you start paying for them? I can arrange a money transfer through the Lizardoid network.

On account of I'm older than you.

Sure, I probably make more in income, and probably have a greater net worth, but I'm older than you.

Time for you to step up to the plate, as it were.

Does that make my objection more clear?

If not, I expect the Great and Powerful Charles to start forwarding me my $75 each month.

[/sarcasm]

Seriously, there is little difference, except the folks I'd means-test out have a much higher wage discrepancy between me and them than you and I have.

Unless you are unemployed, homeless, and starving. In that case, the ratio might approach equality.

#37, #39

aBOUT 75% of seniors have some sort of drug coverage... The new plan will encourage the private plans seniors have now to cut drug coverage....it won't be necessary if it is provided under medicare. Both my mom and mom-in-law have better drug plans than what has been passed by congress....it would not make them happy to lose those plans. BTW, my mom is a retired cleaning lady employed by the state....so drug plans are widely available.

#43 Iron Fist

Well, they're unemployed/retired.

You're making money, and I'm not.

If I understand it right (no guarantee there), a better example would be you paying for my medicine.

I was concerned about this article, too, until I reread it and then took note of the author, Barbara Ferguson. The lovely and vivacious Ms. Ferguson was an embedded reporter during the Iraq war, but had to be transferred to some place quiet and safe when it was discovered she is a wimp and can't stand the sound of blood. She spent the Iraq war at sea reporting on aircraft carrier lore.

In other words, she's a dingbat. Further to this topic, if you reread the article penned by the dingbat, it *does* say a new program is being instituted that will replace this program. So the reality is, the Saudi's really aren't getting a "get out of jail free card" -- they'll just have to stand in line with everyone else as part of the new program.

In addition, elsewhere in that edition of the ArabNews there is another article describing how a new finger-printing program aimed at our friends the Saudi's and all their little Muslim playmates who like to travel to the U.S. has now been implemented. Ms. Barbara doesn't see fit to link the fingerprinting and the new screening program together as she bleats about the demise of the first program.

On the other hand, maybe she's *not* such a dingbat since she's fashioned an article out of thin air that proclaims a victory for the Muslims where nothing really happened.

Right now our only hope of truly changing the national political landscape are the Islamofascists themselves, and, let's face it, they're accommodating our wishes with their accelerated terror campaign. I predict their campaign will only intensify as our natoinal election gets underway in the coming months.

The upshot is that those who want the war to just go away are finding the morning headlines reminding them that it won't--no matter how hard they try.

Expect to find a real metamorphosis in the national mindset before next summer.

#44/Olga,

And therein lies the problem. If the drug benefit is set up like Medicare Part A, seniors won't be able to opt-out. If it's like Part B they can opt out, but private companies will either raise their prices or quit covering drugs.

BTW, Medicare does pay for quite a few drugs already -some respiratory, infusion, anti-cancer/anti-emetic, transplant drugs and an end stage renal disease drug.

DBC

#39 Colt
" But something about denying old people medicine seems wrong."
That's very, very close to saying "But something about denying old people medicine FEELS wrong."
Watch out for the noxious compulsory altruism virus. It propagates at an exponential rate of growth.
If somebody takes anything from me for ANY purpose whatsoever, at the point of a gun, my default reaction is to assume that I'm being robbed.
And if you think taxes aren't collected under the threat of use of deadly force, just follow, as a thought problem, the logical progression of acts by government functionaries (armed) after you signify your refusal and back it up with appropriate resistance.
You will be killed only as a last result, of course, but you WILL, as a last resort, be killed.
See Ruby Ridge & Waco.

#38 Colt,

You know what I mean. There's a hell of a margin between leveling the Islamic world, and having a sensible amount of airport security.

Only in a rational world.

In the world where Bush is considered as bad as Hitler, there isn't. The Democrats will do anything to beat Bush.

And anything Bush does will be portrayed in the most negative light possible. Look at, for example, the Patriot Act.

I will submit to you the simple fact that, unlike his predecessor, John Ashcroft hasn't burned 80 men, women, and children alive, yet he is more vilified in the media than Janet Reno ever was.

The simple truth is that the mainstream media would portray a sensible amount of airport security as equal to leveling the Islamic world so long as Bush is President.

How the voters would respond is unknown.

#49 Evariste's Zaide

I know, and I still don't know why I feel ;-) think what I do. Maybe my Eurocommie environment.

The capitalist in me says that competition will drive prices of medicine down, whilst Medicare will drive them up. Higher taxes, less motivation to improve the drug, etc.

#50 Iron Fist

Yeah. Politics.

How the voters would respond is unknown.

One more big attack, and Bush could build internment camps for Muslims. IMO.

#46 heretic.

Excellent job of connecting the dots.

Here's the arab news article heretic refers to: [Link: www.arabnews.com...]

I know this sounds radical, afterall, our Founding Fathers were radical -- but wise.

Exercise your 2nd Amendment Rights. It is the one Amendment upon which the others depend. Be knowlegeable, responsible and safe in the exercise of this most important right.

Self-defense is moral and legal.

Don't let the Democrats tell you otherwise. And don't vote for one if you treasure the 2nd Amendment.

BTW, our back-stabbers allies the Germans and French oppose doing anything whatsoever about Iran's nuclear weapons program:

The State Department official said the negotiations could result in a provision saying that if Iran doesn't comply with its obligations in the near future, there "could be some reference to going beyond the IAEA" --in other words, making a report to the Security Council.

Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed Iran's nuclear program with his European Union counterparts in Brussels, Belgium, this week. After those meetings, Powell said a draft resolution sponsored by Britain, France and Germany on Iran's nuclear program -- a draft that does not refer to Iran's non-compliance or to the Security Council -- does not go far enough.

A Western official said a major issue is whether the final resolution on Iran should contain a "trigger" mechanism that would automatically refer the matter to the Security Council if Iran fails to take several steps further cooperating with the IAEA.

The Europeans say they oppose any U.N.-related trigger.

CNN

#45 Colt,

I'm 34. You are 18, nyet?

You are younger than I am. It doesn't matter how little you make, or how much I make, because you are younger than me, you should pay for my drugs.

That's my central bitch about the whole thing. I'm going to pay taxes to pay for Warren Buffet's medications, because Buffet's managed to live past 65.

Sounds like a good reason to make sure he doesn't last out the year, to me :-)

Seriously, it is nuts. The baby-boom generation is intent on pillaging it's children and it's grandchildren.

Pardon me if I'm a bit pissed about it.

#51/Colt,

It might be that you have the image of an impoverished grandmother sitting alone at her kitchen table. The reality is that the median net worth for a senior citizen is double that of the national average. That net worth doesn't include income from Social Security, pension or investments.

In 1995, seniors made up 21% of the population. Best guesstimate is that that percentage will double by 2030. Seniors are living longer and healthier lives, despite the horror stories that are reported.

Medicare was implemented at a time when seniors didn't live as long and actuarial tables were used to calculate average lifespan in comparison with how long a person would need to use the benefit. Now that seniors are living longer, the plan doesn't fit anymore -nothing has been adjusted (you just wouldn't believe the idjits that work in the Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services).

DBC

#56 Iron Fist

Yeah... I know. {Coming around}

Sounds like a good reason to make sure he doesn't last out the year, to me

That's your only reason? :-)

#57 DumbBlondeCapitalist

It's all beginning to make sense :-)

Back on topic, guys...

I've recently started travelling regularly to the States on business. I would have had no problem whatsoever had I been fingerprinted as part of my visa application, and I would have no problem if it were Standard Operating Procedure to scan my fingerprint(s) every time I crossed the border.

What the PC crowd doesn't understand is that requiring registration and fingerprinting of non US citizens is not unconstitutional.

The preamble of the constitution begins with the words "We the People", as in, "We the citizens". The constitution was not intended to protect non citizens, it is solely for the benefit of citizens of the United States.

There is nothing illegal about keeping track of people from countries where terrorists hale from. There is, however, something incredibly stupid about not doing it.

Just a reminder: when it comes to this kind of intell work, what they do and what they say they are doing may not be the same thing.

This is the sort of thing that makes me want to scream. Eleven terrorists were caught by the program, but it’s being called a failure?

Failure because it only caught Muslims. We need to catch all races and cultures in equal proportion. THAT'Sour measure of success.

Our premise is that everyone is equal and therefore equally given to Terrorism. Since our current method only catches Muslim Terrorists, we confidently conclude that the problem is with our METHOD....not with the almost exclusive ubiquity of terrorists who are Muslim. ie:it's our fault.

Here's a report out of Pakistan regarding the topic.

....."We are continuing to evaluate the effectiveness of the special registration programme, to determine if it is meeting efficiency goals and national security needs," spokesman Bill Strassberger told The Washington Post.

According to the spokesman, the US Visitor and Immigration Status Indicator Technology Programme called US-Visit would use photographs and fingerprints to log entries and exits at the major US airports and seaports.

Sadiq said that the new programme, when implemented, would apply to all those countries that must obtain visas to visit US and therefore it would be broader in terms of its application. During this year, US registered 83,000 visitors and identified and deported 14,000 illegal aliens.

Pakistanis asked to re-register in US

Such righteous indignation. Sweet.
Dem fury over GOP 'attack' ad

I took the liberty of adding the 'scare' quotes. Must have been a mistake by the New York Daily News - leaving those out./

JD, I've been laughing all this evening about the dems reaction to the Bush political ads. Hilarious. "Bush promised not to politicize the war" is one of the best I've heard. The dems haven't been politicizing the war, of course, not at all! right.

rabidfox

It's kind of funny watching them. Tiresome, but funny.

OT. Hmmmm....
Second radical Saudi cleric renounces Islamic militancy in televised interview

So they caught 11 terrorists out of 85,000 guys. That's a good start. But did they already know these guys were suspicious and caught them when they showed up? Or did they ask all 85,000 guys to mark on a questionnaire:

Are you a terrorist? YES or NO (please circle one) and 11 guys answered YES, lol.

I think there are more than 11 terrorists in this country. I don't know how just registering could alert the Feds that one is a terrorist. I'm sure the terrorists try to keep that stuff a secret.......

But just having the potential pool of current names and addresses, etc, has got to be a big help for law enforcement to keep track of these guys, connect the dots and eventually (hopefully) find the rest of the scum. I'm also very glad they found 15,000 with visa violations and threw them out on their asses. That alone was worth the trouble of the program.

Also, I think fingerprinting and pix at immigration is a great idea. We should keep a tight rein on everybody who visits here from any country. If anybody overstays their visa, the police should go get them and throw them out. So it's inconvenient to stand at immigration for 60 extra seconds to get their picture taken? BFD.

Isn't Turkey's capital Ankara?

Machine-guns found on airliner.....New York-bound Czech flight forced to land in Iceland

© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

When a New York-bound Czech Airlines flight was diverted to land in Iceland after a bomb threat was e-mailed to the U.S. Embassy in Prague, no bomb was found – but, according to Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, two tons of machine-guns were discovered in the baggage hold.

The plane, which carried 174 passengers and crew, made an unscheduled landing Tuesday in Iceland, after the airline received a warning that a bomb was on board.

The threat was delivered in an e-mail to the U.S. Embassy in Prague, which passed it on to the airline in the late afternoon. The plane had just passed Iceland when it received the threat and had to turn around to land at a U.S. military airfield.

U.S. military authorities coordinated the evacuation of the plane.

''Who knows what terrorist group those were heading to in the States and what carnage we prevented from occurring in the U.S. by intercepting the delivery,'' said one U.S. military source

The threat of a bomb on the civilian airliner was heightened because of the fact that President Bush's Air Force One was flying through the same airspace over Iceland at the same time in the opposite direction on his way to England.

The 174 passengers on the Czech flight continued on to New York the next day.