Posted on 08/30/2007 11:15:31 PM PDT by james500
>>This is why you should SPEEK ENGLISH in the United States. I tell you what, if I was on that plane and a bunch of “middle eastern” men started spouting of in Arabic, I would get more than a little nervous.<<
Is the reverse true. That Americans on foreign soil should not speak English?
Good post. I’m assuming that the typical passenger gets suspicious when they travel in groups as these guys did.
In many places in the world, it would be in an Americans best interest to keep his/her big mouth shut.
As for this bunch, it’s not like they were not fluent in English.
Holy crap. I think I need to take a break for a while. I won't say what I think your post indicates, because I am trying to be nice.
For the last time:
Iraqis are on a plane.
They likely do not speak English.
They may likely be wearing something indcating they are involved in the military.
They will be talking during the flight, but not in English.
There will be clueless morons and overly hyper goobers on this flight, like all flights.
If I was the person in charge of arranging their flight I would make sure all passengers on the plane knew who these people were, and that they are NOT "flying imam" types.
This may include a 20 second disclaimer by the flight attendant, or a quick speech by a marine escort, to put everyone at ease.
BTW: It makes total sense to have an escort just to help buy tickets, hail cabs, to show the Iraqis around, make reservations. I don't think these Iraqi soldiers could get around very easily with out some help.
In another article, it said that the passenger complained about "speaking in Arabic and acting in a suspicious manner".
Maybe the passenger was right about that behavior and maybe that passenger was wrong.
If your spouse and child were on that plane, would you want those suspicions investigated or just brushed off and ignored?
My vote is still for, "Sorry that some of our Iraqi allies were wrongly suspected but better safe than sorry."
That is why your fire alarm annoyingly goes off every time you burn some toast.
Sensitivity vs. Specificity: It is an issue with all warning systems.
If you dial the sensitivity up, over the long run for the entire warning system network, you annoy more people and you kill less people. If you dial the sensitivity down, over the long run for the entire warning system network, you annoy less people and you kill more people.
Most warning system worth their salt decide to err on the side of "annoying" rather than on the side of "killing".
“Something is wrong.”
True, but not my fault.
And while it’s true that it’s not “all arabs’ fault” either, unfortunately, being profiled is something they will have to learn to deal with for now.
I profile everyone. I learned that just being a mom.
>>True, but not my fault.
And while it’s true that it’s not “all arabs’ fault” either, unfortunately, being profiled is something they will have to learn to deal with for now.
I profile everyone. I learned that just being a mom.<<
Pattern recognition is part of survival. I remember my girl (now my wife) getting mad at me because I was not immediately sensitive to a woman speaking rudely to her in public. My defense was that I was focused on the guy with the rude woman who had a bowie knife and a special forces tattoo. Experience had taught me that if a bar fight erupted I was better off knowing where he was than what his woman was saying.
But if we all pattern recognize so much and we put official policy behind that recognition that the very people we are trying to save can no longer walk among us, we have gone too far.
Dave Alwatan, an Iraqi-American, tells a Chicago TV station.
Well here you go. Also his name Dave implies that he is a Christian from Iraq.
Also read this http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1888901/posts
“Doing CAIR’s work for them?”
Where does it explicitly state that these folk are muslim?
“Grow up. They did it on purpose.”
Did what on purpose? Cause a scene? Maybe, but I’d like to hear more. The whiny quote you got from ABC does smell of something bad, but then again, some people just adopt a victim mentality regardless of religion, race, etc.
“And to top it off, Defense Training Systems, International Logistics Services Corp., pays them with taxpayer money.”
Well who did you think would be paying them? The local SPCA?
These guys were training our military personnel, they all know how to speak English.
How about THEM being sensitive to the American on board and speak English while on the flight?
Well, they probably were conversant in English, at the very least. I’d hope citizenship standards haven’t slipped that far.
I don’t think they should have had an escort, but I can understand why some folk might think they should have them.
However, I think sending a soldier/marine/sailor/airman/etc. to accompany these groups is a waste.
I feel that it’s just an unfortunate incident where a passenger was unsettled by an unknown group of Arabic-speakers on the plane. I must confess that I’d be wary in this situation, but certainly not enough to go crying wolf to a flight attendant or anything.
On the part of the Arabic-speakers, I feel that, while it’s natural for them to take umbrage at their treatment, they should realize that in these times it’s better to be safe than sorry and they shouldn’t be trying to make more of it than it is. Then again, we all know of many people and groups who love to play the victim.
“These guys were training our military personnel, they all know how to speak English.
How about THEM being sensitive to the American on board and speak English while on the flight?”
Exactly.
THAT'S RIGHT!!! I forgot to even mention this, and I took a lot of time replying to those other two. You are absolutely right. It is more to keep THEM honest than the rest of the passengers.
Yeah right and if your child was on plane with somebody with black hair I’d like to see what you’d do. Really come to a sense - how many people must die by the hands of these black haired devils.
Follow up article:
Suspicious crew raises alarm and a flight is canceled
October 30, 2007
He said that one of the men went into the bathroom and when he came out he stood next to a woman and stared at her for three to four minutes. That passenger got off the plane.
The flight attendant also said that another man in the group began to stare at him in an “abnormal, unusual and intense” way. When he mentioned that to the other attendants, they each said they felt they were being stared at in the same fashion.
“It was like each of these (Arabic) passengers had their assigned attendant,” Kotsonis said.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1918613/posts
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