Angry Yemeni Man Storms Cockpit Shouting “Allahu Ackbar”
This happened yesterday, and given the context of the news cycle (what with Osama bin Laden having just been shot in the head and dumped in the ocean) you’d think it would be national news.
Apparently, though, this sort of story doesn’t fit the media’s narrative.
The passengers sat stunned as they watched a man walk quickly toward the front of American Airlines Flight 1561 as it was descending toward San Francisco. He was screaming and then began pounding on the cockpit door.
“I kept saying to myself: ‘What’s he doing? Does he have a bomb? Is he armed?’” passenger Angelina Marty said.
Within moments Sunday, a flight attendant tackled Rageh Almurisi. Authorities do not yet have a motive.
While authorities said that Almurisi, 28, of Vallejo, Calif., has no clear or known ties to terrorism, the incident underscored fears that extremists may try to mount attacks to retaliate for the death of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden last week.
Federal agents are investigating Almurisi’s background. He was carrying a Yemeni passport and a California identification card, authorities said.
“One piece of good news comes out of this story — after almost 10 years, Americans still understand the lesson from 9/11,” writes Ed Morrissey. Indeed, it’s satisfying to see citizens take their security into their own hands.
Regardless, this should be a national story, though I don’t think it’s likely that this attempted attack was some sort of operation coordinated by international terror interests.
The other day while interviewing terrorism expert Jarret Brachman on the Scott Hennen Show he said that there were three levels of Osama bin Laden’s followers who we could expect a response from.
The first was bin Laden’s inner circle, his direct network of al Qaeda operatives, all of whom are likely running for cover for the foreseeable future in the wake of bin Laden’s assassination. The second was the wider network of al Qaeda “franchises” or affiliate organizations. These are much more likely to strike.
The third, and perhaps scariest, are Osama bin Laden’s fans and followers who aren’t necessarily connected to any network but who might act out violently in the wake of his death. These are perhaps the most dangerous because they’re the most unpredictable. Because they’re not formally associated with any sort of network, they’re almost undetectable and could lash out at any time, randomly and without warning.
I’d put the man on this flight in that last category.
Tags: Osama Bin Laden, War On Terror
