Taking a page from the unpublished O.J. Simpson book, if
I were a terrorist, what would be my domestic strategy for
bringing America to its knees?
The recent incident aboard a US Airways plane in Minneapolis exposed one
component of my strategy. I would have suggested that six imams shout
"Allah" as they approached the plane for boarding and then not take their
assigned seats once onboard. I would have told them to sit in seats where
they could block every exit, including the one in first class, which is
closest to the cockpit.
When a passenger raises concerns in a note to a flight attendant and
authorities remove them from the plane in handcuffs, I would call a news
conference and hold other media events, including an interfaith "pray-in" at
Washington's Reagan National Airport. I would hurl charges of religious
bigotry and racial profiling at cowering officials.
Next, I would persuade sympathetic members of Congress, like the vociferous
Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas) to say that the Sept. 11 attacks, "cannot be
permitted to be used to justify racial profiling, harassment and
discrimination of Muslim and Arab Americans."
When I am delayed because my name is on a "watch list," despite fruitless
efforts to have it removed, I don't claim persecution or profiling. When my
computer bag is emptied of its contents and every item in it, including
power cords, is examined for signs of explosive powder, I don't claim
discrimination. I can't even verbally vent my frustration, nor can I make
jokes about bombs. Signs warn me I could be denied access to the plane. But
I might be a diversion, were I a terrorist.
The Washington Times carried a front-page story recently that exposed my
nefarious plan to further weaken American resolve against terrorists. After
much of the media initially took the "racial profiling" and "flying while
Muslim" line, the Times discovered my real objective. The newspaper
interviewed witnesses who said the imams were not speaking only in English,
as they claimed, but also Arabic. Nothing wrong with that, but the witnesses
also said they were criticizing the war in Iraq and President Bush and
talking about al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden.
The Times quoted a flight attendant who maintained that one of the men made
two trips to the rear of the plane to talk with an imam during boarding and
again when the flight was delayed because of their behavior. Aviation
officials, including air marshals and pilots, told the newspaper these
actions alone would not warrant a second look, but the combination was
suspicious.
Robert MacLean, a former air marshal, is quoted in the story: "That's like
shouting 'fire' in a crowded theater. You just can't do that anymore."
Other parts of my plan for destroying America, if I had one, are also coming
together. Mosques and Islamic schools, many funded by the extremist Wahaabi
sect based in Saudi Arabia, are "exploding." My brilliant idea (if it was
mine and if it was for real) encourages Americans to have abortions or small
families, while the "peaceful religionists" have large families in order to
skew the demographic in Western countries. Politically, if I had a plan, it
would be to mobilize immigrants and those born in America to vote to change
the immigration policies of the United States and lower its guard so that
the ultimate destruction of America would be assured.
The 9/11 hijackers conducted "trial runs" before Sept. 11 to probe weak
spots. The behavior of the imams was even more provocative and suspicious. A
pilot, who requested anonymity, told The Washington Times that airlines are
not "secretly prejudiced against any nationality, religion or culture," and
that the only target of profiling is passenger behavior.
"There are certain behaviors that raise the bar," he said, "and not sitting
in your assigned seat raises the bar substantially, especially since we know
that this behavior has been evident in suspicious probes in the past."
Drat! They discovered my plan, but there will be another time and maybe the
next time, or the time after that, I will again succeed.
This is how I would think, if I were a terrorist. |