• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Missing Libyan jetliners raise fears of terror attacks on 9/11 - is this for real?

Gonzo Rodeo

Gonzo Rodeo

better late than pregnant
DP Veteran
Joined
Dec 30, 2011
Messages
4,161
Reaction score
1,373
Location
Here
Gender
Undisclosed
Political Leaning
Private
I see the story is only a few hours old, but I can only find links to it on right leaning news sites.

Missing Libyan jetliners raise fears of terror attacks on 9/11 - Washington Times

Islamist militias in Libya took control of nearly a dozen commercial jetliners last month, and Western intelligence agencies recently issued a warning that the jets could be used in terrorist attacks across North Africa.

Intelligence reports of the stolen jetliners were distributed within the U.S. government over the past two weeks and included a warning that one or more of the aircraft could be used in an attack later this month on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against New York and Washington, said U.S. officials familiar with the reports.

SEE ALSO: ‘Significant increase’ in terror chatter as haunting anniversary of 9/11 nears

“There are a number of commercial airliners in Libya that are missing,” said one official. “We found out on Sept. 11 what can happen with hijacked planes.”

The official noted that the reports also come three weeks before the second anniversary of the terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.



Read more: Missing Libyan jetliners raise fears of terror attacks on 9/11 - Washington Times
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
Click to expand...
 
Re: Missing Libyan jetliners raise fears of terror attacks on 9/11 - is this for real

Gonzo Rodeo said:
I see the story is only a few hours old, but I can only find links to it on right leaning news sites.

Missing Libyan jetliners raise fears of terror attacks on 9/11 - Washington Times
Click to expand...

From the video and pictures I saw of the airport after the attack and seizure by the Islamists, it appeared to me that the planes were all either burned or bombed. Plus, an airliner in Libya isn't going to be able to "sneak" into US airspace, and would be shot down before it crossed the coast. If they did get an airliner or two, where are they going to get the fuel? Where are the pilots? And, they could only potentially strike targets in Egypt or Israel or another Mediterranean state, and trust me, those countries would shoot it down faster than we would.

I just think this one is a lot of hubba hubba about nothing of consequence. It would make a great training mission for some country's fighter squadrons, and maybe even their AA crews.
 
Re: Missing Libyan jetliners raise fears of terror attacks on 9/11 - is this for real

So, a Libyan terrorist is gonna fly a commercial jetliner across the Atlantic Ocean (~10 hours, from Libya) without being noticed? If that's not ridiculous enough (there's at least 3 ridiculous things in that sentence), what's he gonna do when he gets here and there's no fuel left in the plane to make a big boom? Crashing a fuel-less plane into something is gonna be pretty anti-climatic.
 
Re: Missing Libyan jetliners raise fears of terror attacks on 9/11 - is this for real

ecofarm said:
So, a Libyan terrorist is gonna fly a commercial jetliner across the Atlantic Ocean (~10 hours, from Libya) without being noticed? If that's not ridiculous enough (there's at least 3 ridiculous things in that sentence), what's he gonna do when he gets here and there's no fuel left in the plane to make a big boom? Crashing a fuel-less plane into something is gonna be pretty anti-climatic.
Click to expand...

I don't know where the story gets the idea about New York and DC, but Libya is close to European targets. We have embassies all around the world, although they are relatively little targets for jetliners.

Nobody is going to go trigger happy on "wild" aircraft. Airplanes sometimes lose radio capability in flight. A fighter escort may go up to check one out... but if there are 12 in different spots at the same time, well, that's a lot of sky to potentially cover in a short amount of time. I'm not so sure we (the US) would be able to coordinate quickly and effectively enough to put up a realistic fence. And I know absolutely nothing about any European Aviation Administration and how they may do things.
 
Re: Missing Libyan jetliners raise fears of terror attacks on 9/11 - is this for real

No.

We know what planes are where.
 
Re: Missing Libyan jetliners raise fears of terror attacks on 9/11 - is this for real

Gonzo Rodeo said:
I don't know where the story gets the idea about New York and DC, but Libya is close to European targets. We have embassies all around the world, although they are relatively little targets for jetliners.

Nobody is going to go trigger happy on "wild" aircraft. Airplanes sometimes lose radio capability in flight. A fighter escort may go up to check one out... but if there are 12 in different spots at the same time, well, that's a lot of sky to potentially cover in a short amount of time. I'm not so sure we (the US) would be able to coordinate quickly and effectively enough to put up a realistic fence. And I know absolutely nothing about any European Aviation Administration and how they may do things.
Click to expand...

Not skeered.
 
Re: Missing Libyan jetliners raise fears of terror attacks on 9/11 - is this for real

Gonzo Rodeo said:
I don't know where the story gets the idea about New York and DC,
Click to expand...

I bet the aircraft are not even capable of trans-Atlantic flights.
 
Re: Missing Libyan jetliners raise fears of terror attacks on 9/11 - is this for real

What kind of planes?

Are they transatlantic?

They have one A330 that is capable of transatlantic flight. And, if it ever got past Shannon, there would be swarms of fighter jets on top of it.
 
Re: Missing Libyan jetliners raise fears of terror attacks on 9/11 - is this for real

I would think it would be easy enough to identify just which aircraft are missing and be aware if one of them ever tried to take off. They have to have identifying numbers, and it wouldn't be that easy for jihadists to find airfields that were both out of the control of any legitimate government and big enough to handle aircraft of that kind.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom