{"id":139519,"date":"2010-01-05T06:48:03","date_gmt":"2010-01-05T11:48:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nw0.eu\/2010\/01\/05\/another-buried-christmas-day-arrest-uncovered-same-route-same-airline-same-day-different-flight.html"},"modified":"2010-01-05T06:48:03","modified_gmt":"2010-01-05T11:48:03","slug":"another-buried-christmas-day-arrest-uncovered-same-route-same-airline-same-day-different-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/139519","title":{"rendered":"Another Buried Christmas Day Arrest Uncovered: Same Route, Same Airline, Same Day, Different Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

\"Another<\/p>\n

On the day of the Flight 253 incident, reporter Michael
\nRosenfield of WXYZ in Detroit appeared live on CNN during the
\nevening news and reported that, earlier that day, another <\/em>passenger was arrested on a different flight <\/em>from Amsterdam to Detroit. Same route, same airline, same day. <\/em>This
\nreport appears to have been corroborated by a woman who was apparently
\na passenger on that flight in an on-camera interview; an interview
\nwhich was even played at least once on CNN on December 25. However, the
\nmedia subsequently blended this separate incident with the
\nwidely-reported \u201cfailed bombing\u201d incident.  Hence, the
\nmany media reports of Mutallab \u201cscreaming about
\nAfghanistan\u201d despite the fact that the witnesses actually
\ndescribe him as being amazingly calm and totally silent. The End Run
\ndeconstructs this apparent, suspicious, and convenient misreporting.<\/strong><\/p>\n

TheEndRun.com<\/a>
\nJanuary 4, 2010<\/p>\n

On Christmas Day, the public was inundated with reports that a
\n23-year-old Nigerian had attempted to blow up Northwest\/Delta Flight
\n253, which had departed from Amsterdam, as it neared its destination in
\nDetroit. We are already seeing information coming out that indicates a
\ndeliberate cover-up on many fronts, to say the least.<\/p>\n

One thing we have now learned is that a second man from Flight 253
\nwas handcuffed and taken away by authorities on Christmas Day. 
\nAccording to witness Kurt Haskell and his wife Lori, bomb sniffing dogs
\nhad detected something in his bag, which led to an extended period of
\nquestioning in another room, followed by his (apparent) arrest.<\/p>\n

Government officials initially denied that anyone other than
\nMutallab was detained; but, after other witnesses came forward to
\ncorroborate the Haskells, they had to admit that someone else was
\ndetained. However, they cited \u201cimmigration charges\u201d as the
\nreason, and have since changed their story<\/a>
\nat least three more times.  As of now it seems they are trying to
\nclaim that this man was from a totally different flight, a claim that
\nKurt Haskell says is false and impossible because the passengers from
\nhis plane were \u201cquarantined\u201d and absolutely not permitted
\nto comingle with passengers from any other planes.  He facetiously
\nsuggests that the government official who made this claim \u201cshould
\nbecome a comedian\u201d.<\/p>\n

Haskell also says<\/a>
\nthat he witnessed a \u201cnicely dressed\u201d Indian-looking man
\naround 50 years of age approach the ticket counter with Mutallab in
\nAmsterdam.  He says Mutallab \u201cnever said a word\u201d as
\nthe Indian-looking man pressed the person behind the counter to allow
\nMutallab to fly, even though he did not, according to the
\nIndian-looking man, have a passport.  Eventually the two were sent
\ndown a hallway to talk to a manager, according to Haskell.  So far
\nneither U.S. nor Dutch authorities have acknowledge that this took
\nplace, instead opting to make what Haskell calls<\/a> \u201cself serving play[s] on semantics\u201d.<\/p>\n

Other passengers have reported<\/a>
\nthat there was a mysterious man who video taped the entire flight with
\na camcorder, and when the \u201cattempted bombing\u201d occured, he
\n\u201csat up and videotaped the entire thing, very
\ncalmly\u201d.  Passenger Patricia \u201cScotty\u201d Keepman,
\nwho witnessed this along with her daughter Richelle, has said:
\n\u201cWe do know that the FBI is looking for him intensely. Since
\nthen, we\u2019ve heard nothing about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rest of this article will provide new information that further points to a cover-up.<\/p>\n

THE REPORT FROM THE \u201cUNIDENTIFIED FEMALE PASSENGER\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the day of the event, numerous passengers from Flight 253 were interviewed on camera while they were still in the airport.<\/p>\n

One woman reported the following:<\/p>\n

\n

He was \u2014 stood up.  He was belligerent. 
\nUh, he was yelling, swearing.  He would put hats on.  He was
\nscreaming about Afghanistan.  Umm.  He was fighting with the
\nwonderful s\u2013 err,  stewards that we had.  There were
\nfive men \u2014 big men \u2014 and three women.  I said to my
\nhusband I was so thankful that there were three \u2014 er, five men on
\nthe, um, flight.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The video recording of this short interview is not easy to find online, but as of this writing it can still be viewed here<\/a>, on the website of The Daily Telegraph<\/em>, sandwiched in between interviews with two other passengers.<\/p>\n

For your convenience I have uploaded her interview by itself:<\/p>\n

<\/embed>Popout<\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike most if not all of the other passengers who have been
\ninterviewed and quoted by the media, this woman was not identified by
\nname at the time, and still (to my knowledge) has never been
\nidentified.  As far as I can tell she has never been interviewed
\nagain.<\/p>\n

The other two interviewees in that Telegraph<\/em> video, on the
\nother hand, were both identified by name on Christmas day in many other
\nplaces as Richelle Keepman and Melinda Dennis.  Both have been
\nquoted in myriad other articles, and have subsequently appeared on
\nmainstream news stations (For example, Keepman was interviewed on CNN\u2019s Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees<\/a> and Dennis on NBC\u2019s The Today Show<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

In this<\/a>
\nearly BBC article she is quoted along with six other passengers. 
\nShe is referred to as an \u201cunidentified female passenger\u201d,
\nwhile all others are referred to by their full name.<\/p>\n

THE MUTE CONSENSUS<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Given that a week has now passed and the dust has been able to
\nsettle a bit, many readers who have been following the Mutallab story
\nwill likely be able to see that there is something wrong with this
\nwitness account.  Namely, all of the other passengers report
\nMutallab\u2019s behavior as being the total opposite of what this
\nwoman describes.<\/p>\n

For example, in a video-recorded interview<\/a> in the airport shortly after the event (later aired and transcribed<\/a> by CNN), passenger Melinda Dennis (mentioned above) told WXYZ news:<\/p>\n

 <\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t say anything. <\/strong>He was injured.  He was burnt quite severely on his leg […]
\nHe was very calm. He didn\u2019t show any reaction to pain or any
\nfeeling of shock or nervousness. He just looked like a normal
\nindividual.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Appearing on the Fox News show \u201cOn The Record\u201d on December 28 (transcript<\/a>), passenger Daniel Huisinga told guest host Shannon Breem<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

\u2026that\u2019s one of the strangest things about
\nthis experience is he was burned very badly, he was in a situation
\nwhere he was being put in a headlock, dragged into the aisle,
\nhandcuffed, but he wasn\u2019t screaming, he wasn\u2019t yelling, he wasn\u2019t really struggling<\/strong>. And,
\nthe \u2014 the scariest part of the whole experience was looking into
\nthe eyes of the person who at that time I thought had just sealed my
\ndeath warrant and seeing no emotion, not even anger, no fear, just a blank stare, blank expression<\/strong> in the face of this unbelievable evil that he was attempting to commit against all of these innocent people.<\/p>\n

 <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Syed Jafry, a passenger who was three rows away from Mutallab, was interviewed<\/a> by CNN\u2019s Ali Velshi on the day of the event.  Here\u2019s what he said:<\/p>\n

\n

VELSHI: \u2026did he look like he was struggling?<\/p>\n

JAFRY: No, he \u2014 I don\u2019t recall that he was
\nstruggling, more that he appeared to be more stunned and sort of
\nsurprised with the whole act.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

VELSHI: Did he seem to be yelling anything or saying anything, uttering any threats? <\/strong><\/p>\n

JAFRY: No, nothing at all. I, at least, didn\u2019t hear anything.<\/strong> Maybe some other people who were closer to him may have heard him, but I did not hear anything.<\/strong>..<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Jasper Schuringa, who the Herald Sun says \u201chas been hailed as
\nthe hero of Northwest Airlines Flight 253\u2033 for subduing Mutallab,
\nagrees<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

FREDRICKA WHITFELD (CNN ANCHOR)<\/span><\/span>:
\nNow tell me about him.  Was he fighting you? Was he
\nstruggling?  Did he just seem to, uhh, upon discovery just kind of
\nlet it go, and \u2014 and you all were able to kind of manhandle him?<\/p>\n

JASPER SCHURINGA: No, he was \u2014 he was just very calm<\/strong>.  Uhh, he was shaking though.  But he didn\u2019t resist anything<\/strong>.  And uh, he was just sitting there<\/strong>.  And, uh, he looked like a normal guy as well.<\/strong>
\nBut, you know, it was just, uh, just hard to \u2014 to believe that,
\nyou know, he was going to try \u2014 trying to blow up this plane.<\/p>\n

WHITFELD: Was there \u2014 was there anything about him prior to
\nthat incident that ever made you look at him?  Did you suspect
\nanything?  Did anything catch your attention about him?<\/p>\n

SCHURINGA: No.  Nothing, nothing, nothing.  Absolutely nothing<\/strong>. 
\nSo, it was a big, uh, surprise when we heard the first explosion people
\nwere just like looking around like, you know, \u201cOkay, this is not
\ngood.  What\u2019s going on?\u201d  And then the first
\nperson shouted \u201cFire!\u201d  And then, uh, like I got to my
\nsense and [I thought] okay this is wrong.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

WHITFELD <\/span><\/span>: Were there any words?\u2026 was there any yelling, any screaming?<\/p>\n

SCHURINGA: No<\/strong>.  Yeah, well the \u2014 like the \u2014 like, like whole plane was screaming.  And uh, but the suspect, he, he, like<\/strong> he didn\u2019t say a word<\/strong>.  No nothing like that<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

WHITFELD<\/span><\/span>: Never said a word.  Not
\nprior, not during, not even once you all had subdued him and you were
\nholding him waiting for authorities.<\/p>\n

SCHURINGA: Well we were holding him, but he wasn\u2019t, uh, struggling, he wasn\u2019t saying a word, nothing. <\/strong>He was just [inaudible] I guess.<\/p>\n

[..]<\/p>\n

SCHURINGA: Well he was, uh, like, he was in trance.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

By December 30, the uniformity of the witness accounts with regard
\nto Mutallab\u2019s behavior could not be denied, even by the major
\nmedia.  Writing for Time Magazine<\/a> that day, Michael Duffy and Mark Thompson summarized the descriptions:<\/p>\n

\n

Passengers later said there was something curious about
\nthe spare young man who had tried to bring down their plane: he was
\nsilent throughout the attack. He didn\u2019t panic. He didn\u2019t
\nyell any last-second religious slogans. He was calm and methodical as
\nhe set himself on fire. It was as though he had been trained.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

THE ANOMALOUS REPORT EXPLAINED<\/strong><\/p>\n

I began researching the \u201cfailed bombing\u201d incident in the
\nvery early morning on December 26.  I watched and read dozens of
\nnews reports, paying careful attention to the accounts of the
\npassengers (amongst other things).  I did this because I know that
\nwhen these kinds of \u201cterrorist events\u201d occur there are
\nusually early witness reports that contradict what will eventually
\nbecome the official (government-endorsed) storyline.  Since I was
\nlooking critically at the witness accounts from the very beginning in
\nthis way, it did not take me long to recognize that the
\n\u201cunidentified female passenger\u201d was an anomalous account.<\/p>\n

Later that day, while discussing the incident with a family member,
\nI mentioned the report of this unidentified woman.  She replied,
\n\u201cOh, she was probably on that other flight.\u201d<\/p>\n

I, of course, had no idea what she was talking about.  She
\nproceeded to tell me (nonchalantly) that it was reported on television
\nthe previous day that there was another man arrested on another flight
\nfrom Amsterdam to Detroit whose behavior fit the description of this
\nunidentified female passenger.  Having just spent hours reading
\ndozens of media reports, I informed her that none of them said a word
\nabout such a thing, and asked if she could be mistaken.  She
\ninsisted that she was not.<\/p>\n

I went online and searched, but could not find any reports of this.  Not one.  Then, finally, I found a single blog post<\/a> which stated: \u201cCNN
\nis also reporting a weird coincidence: Another guy was arrested today
\non the same route, same airline, (different flight) for shouting
\n\u201cpro-Afghanistan, anti-American\u201d statements and generally
\nbeing rowdy. Law enforcement say the two incidents aren\u2019t
\nrelated\u2014the guy was just drunk\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post included a link to the CNN video clip from Christmas Day
\n\u2014 the same one my family member saw, which was, as far as I can
\ntell, the only broadcast in which this story was ever reported on live.
\n(Part of it re-aired at least once, see below).<\/p>\n

Here it is:<\/p>\n

<\/embed>Popout<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is a transcript:<\/p>\n

\n

MICHAEL ROSENFIELD: We have also learned about another
\nincident, also on board a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit this
\nafternoon.  Another passenger was arrested on that flight as
\nwell.  Federal officials and local law enforcement here
\ndon\u2019t think the two incidents were connected, but it also did
\nhappen on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.  A passenger was
\nyelling pro-Afghanistan statements, anti-American statements as
\nwell.  He was throwing food on passengers in the back part of the
\nplane.  He was taken into custody, but law enforcement officials
\nhere on the ground tell us they think that it was just a drunk
\npassenger.  They do not think these two incidents were
\nconnected.  Live in Detroit, I\u2019m Michael Rosenfield. 
\nBack to you.<\/p>\n

ALI VELSHI (CNN ANCHOR): Mike, was that a \u2014 was that a
\nNorthwest flight as well coming in from Amsterdam, or was that a
\ndifferent flight?<\/p>\n

ROSENFIELD: Yeah, that was also a Northwest Delta flight also coming
\nin from Amsterdam to Detroit.  Another incident on that
\ncase.  But again, law enforcement officials think that they were
\nnot connected.  But, uh, pretty coincidental that both happened on
\nthe same route on the same day.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Now<\/em> does the unidentified woman \u2014 who, in diametric
\nopposition to all of the other witnesses, reported that
\n\u201che\u201d (who?) \u201cstood up\u201d, was
\n\u201cbeligerent\u201d, \u201cyelling\u201d,
\n\u201cswearing\u201d,  \u201cscreaming about
\nAfghanistan\u201d, \u201cfighting with the stewards\u201d, and
\n\u201cwould put hats on\u201d \u2014 make sense?  If you go
\nback and watch her interview (or read the transcript), you\u2019ll
\nnotice that she gives no indication that she was on the plane with
\nMutallab whatsoever.  She does not say one word about the
\n\u201cfailed bombing\u201d.  She simply describes someone\u2019s<\/em>
\nunruly behavior (clearly not Mutallab), and even seems somewhat amused
\nby it.  Can there be any doubt that she corroborates
\nRosenfield\u2019s report and was in fact on that other flight that the
\nmedia, for some reason, has failed to speak of ever again?<\/p>\n

THE SUNDAY INCIDENT<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you answered \u201cno, there can be no doubt\u201d to that question, then this information ought to raises a lot of new <\/em>questions.
\nFor instance, are we to believe that CNN and WXYZ did not see
\nRosenfield\u2019s report as worthy of following up on?  Or even mentioning<\/em>
\never again (save one partial re-airing the following morning as
\ndescribed below)?  Are we to believe that every other news station
\nsimply missed this story, or else saw it and found it equally
\nuninteresting?<\/p>\n

These kinds of considerations are particularly implausible in light of the fact that (\u201dcoincidentally\u201d, I guess) an extremely <\/em>similar \u201ccoincidence\u201d occurred on Sunday, and became a top news story of the day, if not the <\/em>top
\nstory.  It was covered in detail by most if not all major media
\noutlets, including CNN.  Here are a few of the countless headlines
\nwith links to the articles.<\/p>\n

Another Delta Flight Scare in Detroit<\/a> CBS\/AP Dec 27<\/span>Detroit terror attack: second Nigerian arrested on Amsterdam flight<\/a> The Daily Telegraph Dec 27<\/span><\/p>\n

Food Poisoning Blamed In Second Northwest Flight 253 Bomb Scare ABC News<\/a> ABC News Dec 27<\/p>\n

Northwest Airlines Passenger <\/span>Taken Into Custody in Detroit<\/a> Bloomberg Dec 27<\/p>\n

New Detroit scare declared \u2018nonserious\u2019<\/a> CNN Dec 27<\/p>\n

Unruly Passenger Disrupts Another Amsterdam-to-Detroit Flight<\/a> Politics Daily Dec 27<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

D\u00e9j\u00e0 vu on Flight 253 in Detroit<\/a> Free Press Dec 28<\/p>\n

Not one of these articles about the Sunday incident makes any mention of <\/em>the extremely similar incident reported by Rosenfield on Friday; not even the one published by CNN!  Did CNN have amnesia?<\/p>\n

THE RE-AIRING<\/strong><\/p>\n

The full, live Rosenfield report aired shortly before 8:45pm EST on
\nChristmas day.  The Christmas Day part is made clear by his
\nstatements.  That it\u2019s nighttime is obvious in the
\nvideo.  I originally derived the timeframe based on two posts
\nfound on message boards from Christmas Day.<\/p>\n

Post #1<\/a>: On the Professional Pilots Rumor Network (PPRuNe.org) the user \u201cAASLF\u201d in \u201cDFW, Tx\u201d said:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cCNN News here reporting a SECOND \u2013 separate
\nNWA flt ex-AMS\/DET today had a pax arrested on landing for shouting
\nanti-American\/pro-AQ speech in cabin and throwing food at pax. It is
\nbelieved this pax was \u201cmerely\u201d drunk. Coincidence???\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This post was dated December 25, 2009, at 2:45.  After browsing
\nthe PPRuNe.org site it seems that their clock is set six hours ahead of
\nEastern Standard Time, meaning that it was posted at 8:45pm EST.<\/p>\n

Post #2:<\/a>
\nAnother post made by a user on the DetroitLuv.com message board,
\nstamped 8:54pm on Dec 25 (that forum\u2019s clock appears to be on set
\nto EST) reads:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201c\u2026and to add more strangeness, a second
\nman, on a separate Amsterdam to Detroit flight, was taken off a plane
\nupon landing shouting anti-American slogans (and pro-Afghani ones) and
\nthrowing food on the other passengers. Weirdness.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/em>CNN has now released a transcript<\/a>
\nof that Dec 25 broadcast, which begins at \u201c20:00 ET\u201d
\n(8:00pm EST).  Rosenfield\u2019s report comes roughly two-thirds
\nof the way through the broadcast, confirming the time frame implied by
\nthose message board posts.<\/p>\n

The CNN transcript reveals a few things:<\/p>\n

1) Rosenfield\u2019s entire report was considerably longer than
\nthat video clip.  Before giving the \u201csecond flight\u201d
\nreport, he first reported on the main Mutallab incident for what must
\nhave been at least two or three minutes, playing clips from witnesses.<\/p>\n

2) A few minutes after Rosenfield\u2019s report, Velshi did summarized it in his own words:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe did hear from a reporter in Detroit a few
\nminutes ago, Michael Rosenfield, about another passenger on a different
\nflight also a Delta Northwest flight coming in from Amsterdam to
\nDetroit. This passenger was arrested earlier today. Now have word from
\nDelta Airlines that that passenger was intoxicated, caused a
\ndisturbance and was subdued. That flight was also met by authorities at
\nthe request of the crew.  Delta at least for now does not believe
\nthat that incident was in any way related to the incident on Northwest
\n253 that we\u2019re discussing now. That is the Northwest flight that
\ncame in from Amsterdam to Detroit and moments before landing, a
\npassenger attempted to ignite something on the plane.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

3) Remember that, after Rosenfield finished his report, Velshi asked
\nhim if the second incident was on the same airline, to which Rosenfield
\nsaid yes, it was the same airline and route on the same day. That is
\nwhere the video I found cuts off, but in the transcript we can see
\nthat, before moving on, Velshi replied \u201cMichael, thanks very much
\nfor all this information. We appreciate it. We\u2019ll be checking in
\nwith you again.\u201d<\/p>\n

I see no indication that they ever did check in with him again.<\/p>\n

I see zero articles written about this story by CNN or a single other news outlet.<\/p>\n

I see no indication that Rosenfield\u2019s report was ever re-aired
\nexcept for one time the following morning (Dec 26) on CNN Saturday
\nMorning News.  The transcript<\/a>
\nbegins around 7:00am EST, and the re-airing of Rosenfield\u2019s
\nreport is found about two-third of the way down the page, so it
\nprobably aired sometime between 7:30 and 8:00am EST.<\/p>\n

Calling it a re-airing isn\u2019t exactly accurate, though.  It was a partial <\/em>re-airing. 
\nWhat\u2019s interesting is that they play his entire report (starting
\njust after his original three-sentence introduction of general
\nbackground information about the Mutallab incident), but the clip is
\ncut off just before Velshi asks about which airline the flight was
\nfrom.  Rosenfield\u2019s response that it was the same airline as
\nthe \u201cfailed bombing\u201d, and his comment about the whole thing
\nbeing \u201cpretty coincidental\u201d, were therefore not re-aired.<\/p>\n

This is from transcript of this Dec 26 re-airing:<\/p>\n

\n

We have also learned about another incident also aboard
\na flight from Amsterdam to Detroit this afternoon. Another passenger
\nwas arrested on that flight, as well. Federal officials and local law
\nenforcement here don\u2019t think the two incidents were connected.
\nBut it also did happen on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.<\/p>\n

A passenger was yelling pro-Afghanistan statement, anti-American
\nstatements, as well. He was throwing food on passengers in the back
\npart of the plane. He was taken into custody. But law enforcement
\nofficials here on the ground tell us they think it was just a drunk
\npassenger. They did not think these two incidents were connected. (END
\nVIDEOTAPE)<\/p>\n

HOLMES: Well, a little scary there from our reporter from WXYZ, Rosenfield.<\/p>\n

But everybody a little on edge and they will be for some time, especially during this holiday season.<\/p>\n

BALDWIN: Yes, for good reason.<\/p>\n

HOLMES: Yes.<\/p>\n

BALDWIN: So that\u2019s the situation on the ground at Detroit.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Again, in the original live report from Rosenfield, just after the
\n\u201c(END VIDEOTAPE)\u201d mark on the re-airing, Velshi asked
\nRosenfield, \u201cMike, was that a \u2014 was that a Northwest
\nflight as well coming in from Amsterdam, or was that a different
\nflight?\u201d<\/em>, to which Rosenfield responded, \u201cYeah,
\nthat was also a Northwest Delta flight also coming in from Amsterdam to
\nDetroit. Another incident on that case. But again, law enforcement
\nofficials think that they were not connected. But, uh, pretty
\ncoincidental that both happened on the same route on the same
\nday.\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a bit odd that Rosenfield didn\u2019t include this very
\ninteresting and \u201ccoincidental\u201d information in his original
\nreport until prompted, and it\u2019s also interesting that CNN left
\nthis key point out of the single re-airing of the clip, especially
\nsince the incident was apparently \u201cdropped down the memory
\nhole\u201d after that entirely.<\/p>\n

BLENDING THE UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE\u2019S ACCOUNT WITH THE MUTALLAB INCIDENT<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/strong>What did the major media do with the odd,
\nextremely anomalous report given by the unidentified female
\n\u201cpassenger\u201d? Did they connect the dots to the second
\nincident reported by Rosenfield? If not, did they investigate why on
\nearth someone would be reporting Mutallab\u2019s behavior as being the
\ntotal opposite of what all of the other witness reported?<\/p>\n

No. What happened was the woman was rarely quoted at length<\/em> after the first 24-48 hours. Even during that initial period, her account was already significantly edited.<\/p>\n

Here<\/a>
\nis an article from WITN, an NBC affiliate in North Carolina, published
\non Dec 25, the day of the incident. Like everywhere else, the
\nunidentified female is presented as having been on the Mutallab plane.
\nNotice, however, that she is quoted in full, except for the part where
\nshe says that \u201che would put hats on\u201d, which is possibly the
\nmost blatantly eyebrow raising part. They simply omitted it.<\/p>\n

\n

The White House is now calling the frightening incident
\non a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit an attempted terrorist attack.
\nPassengers on that Northwest flight are talking about the experience.
\nAdministration officials say a passenger ignited a small explosive
\ndevice at the end of the flight. Three people were injured, one of them
\nthe suspect. A federal bulletin lists the suspect as a Nigerian
\nnational who claims to have extremist affiliations. One
\npassenger describes what she saw: \u201cHe stood up, he was
\nbelligerent, he was yelling\u2026 swearing. He\u2026 screaming
\nabout Afghanistan. Um, he was fighting with the stewardesses. There
\nwere five men on the flight. I said to my husband I was thankful that
\nthere were five men on the flight and I kept tapping him because I was
\nnervous and he kept telling me relax, relax.\u201d<\/strong> The suspect has been taken into custody and is being treated for burns from the explosion.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In an article on Dec 26 entitled \u201c\u2018Smoke and screams\u2019 on board plane<\/a>\u201c,
\nBBC News quoted her this way. (\u201dThe \u201cman\u201d she is
\ndescribing, at least according to BBC News, is Mutallab):<\/p>\n

\n

Another unidentified female passenger described the man\u2019s behavior during the incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe stood up. He was belligerent. He was yelling, swearing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was screaming about Afghanistan. He was fighting with the wonderful stewards that we had.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Just like in the WITN report, the bizarre \u201che would put hats
\non\u201d line (bizarre if you are trying to make this work as a
\ndescription of Mutallab\u2019s <\/em>behavior) is omitted. Also,
\nagain, note that she is the only unidentified passenger mentioned in
\nthe article. There are six other witnesses quoted in the article, and
\nfull names are given for all of them.<\/p>\n

On Dec 27, Express.co.uk<\/a>
\nquoted her the exact same way as BBC News word-for-word, while also
\nimplying that she was talking about Mutallab. The one difference is
\nthat Express.co.uk presents it all as one continuous quote. Remember,
\nin between the \u201cyelling, swearing\u201d part and the
\n\u201cscreaming about Afghanistan\u201d part, the unidentified female
\nsaid that the person she was describing \u201cwould put hats
\non\u201d. WITN at least included an ellipsis (dot-dot-dot) to indicate
\nthat some words had been omitted. BBC broke theirs up into two pieces
\nwith a \u201cshe said\u201d in the middle, which is a little more
\nambiguous. Express.co.uk gives us no ellipsis or anything else to that
\neffect. The \u201chats\u201d comment has simply disappeared. (Note:
\nthis could have just been a result of copying it from BBC News or
\nelsewhere and not watching the primary source video.)<\/p>\n

\n

Another passenger described the man\u2019s behavior
\nduring the incident. She said: \u201cHe stood up. He was belligerent.
\nHe was yelling, swearing. He was screaming about Afghanistan. He was
\nfighting with the wonderful stewards that we had.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Ironically, they quote Jasper Schuringa in the very same article
\nsaying that Mutallab was \u201cout of it\u201d and \u201cstaring
\ninto nothing\u201d.<\/p>\n

While the dropping of the odd \u201chats\u201d line was
\nsignificant, the media went on to make almost the entire rest of the
\nquote disappear after December 26. All but one little part, that is. If
\nyou\u2019ve followed the Mutallab story, you probably know which one I
\nam referring to: the \u201cscreaming about Afghanistan\u201d line.<\/p>\n

Here are a some examples of the many articles in which the major
\nnews outlets used this one little snippet from the unidentified
\nfemale\u2019s account and ascribed the behavior to Mutallab, even
\nthough it was not corroborated by any other passenger, and in fact was
\ncontradicted by them (as was the rest of her account):<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cDetroit terror attack: \u2018He was screaming about Afghanistan\u2019\u201d<\/strong>– Telegraph.co.uk<\/a> (headline) Dec 26 <\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cA woman passenger from the plane described the man as
\nstanding up and shouting and \u201cscreaming about Afghanistan\u201d.
\nInvestigators were examining the residue of the device, which was
\nthought to contain powder and liquid.\u201d<\/strong>Financial Times<\/a>, Dec 26 <\/strong><\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

\u201dThe suspected terrorist was said to have been yelling and swearing and \u201cscreaming about Afghanistan\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

– The Guardian<\/a>, Dec 27<\/p>\n

\u201dAs the bomber was being manhandled away one woman
\npassenger said he was yelling, swearing and \u201cscreaming about
\nAfghanistan\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

– News of the World<\/a>, subisidiary of News International Ltd., which is owned by Rupert Murdoch\u2019s News Corp, Dec 27<\/p>\n

Abdulmutallab, described as a devout Muslim, attempted to
\nignite an explosive device on a plane from Amsterdam to Detroit on
\nChristmas Day after shouting about Afghanistan.<\/strong><\/p>\n

– Times Online<\/a> Dec 27<\/p>\n

\u201dWhen he was overpowered, Abdulmutallab was said by witnesses to be \u201cscreaming about Afghanistan\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

– The Guardian<\/a> Dec 28<\/p>\n

\u201dAlthough Abdulmutallab was screaming about
\nAfghanistan when he was overpowered, it is to Africa we should look for
\nthe source of his fanaticism.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

– Mail Online<\/a>, Dec 28<\/p>\n

\u201cAbdulmutallab, described as a devout Muslim, was
\ncharged on Saturday with trying to destroy the plane flying from
\nAmsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day and placing a destructive device
\nin the plane. He had attempted to ignite explosives after shouting
\nabout Afghanistan.\u201d<\/strong>Times Online<\/a> Dec 27<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

\u201d Although it has been reported that he shouted
\nslogans about Afghanistan as he tried to trigger the device,
\n23-year-old Abdulmutallab does not fit the stereotype of a
\npoverty-stricken jihadi\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

– The Independent<\/a>, Dec 28<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

CNN APPARENTLY REMOVES THE UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN FROM AN ARTICLE ON THEIR WEBSITE<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/strong>Notice that CNN is not one of the networks who
\nmakes mention of the \u201creports\u201d that Mutallab was
\n\u201cscreaming about Afghanistan\u201d.<\/p>\n

At least not anymore.<\/p>\n

On Google, if you preface your search terms with
\n\u201csite:\u201d, it allows you to search just within a specified
\ndomain (like CNN.com) or even subdomain (like TRANSCRIPTS.CNN.com). For
\nexample, the following search terms\u2026<\/p>\n

\n

site:transcripts.cnn.com \u201cRichard Gage\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u2026will search the \u201ctranscripts\u201d subdomain of
\nCNN.com for any references to \u201cRichard Gage\u201d.
\n(Incidentally, Richard Gage<\/a>
\nis never mentioned in any of CNN\u2019s thousands of transcripts.) If
\na subdomain is not specified, then it simply searches the entire domain
\n(all of CNN.com in this case).<\/p>\n

If one searches CNN.com for the \u201che would put hats on\u201d
\nquote, they will discover that CNN played the full clip of the
\nunidentified woman on Dec 25.<\/p>\n

\"Another<\/p>\n

However, viewing the full transcript<\/a>
\nthat this search turns up reveals that they misattribute her words to
\nMelinda Dennis. Dennis herself is mislabeled as an \u201cunidentified
\nfemale\u201d, the title that should have gone to the first woman.<\/p>\n

\n

MELINDA DENNIS, PASSENGER: He was \u2014 stood up. He
\nwas belligerent. He was yelling, swearing. He would put hats on. He was
\nscreaming about Afghanistan. He was fighting with the wonderful
\nstewards that we had. There were five men, big men. and three women. I
\nsaid to my husband, I was so thankful there were three \u2014 five men
\non the flight, because I kept tapping him that I was nervous. And he
\nkept telling me, \u201cRelax, relax.\u201d<\/p>\n

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He didn\u2019t say anything. He was injured. I
\n\u2014 he was burnt quite severely on his leg. They were very careful
\nin trying to make sure that he had nothing else on him so it was easy
\nto see that \u2014 from the exposure that he had gotten significantly
\nburned.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

If we search CNN.com for just the phrase \u201cscreaming about
\nAfghanistan\u201d we get four results. One is the aforementioned
\ntranscript. The other three are all for the article entitled
\n\u201cPassenger: Terrorist suspect seemed \u2019stunned\u2019\u201d:<\/p>\n

\"Another<\/p>\n

We can see from the Google snippets that she is quoted just before
\nElias Fawaz in the article. However, if one clicks any of the three
\nlinks to the article, they are met with a message saying \u201cThe
\ncontent item you requested is not available at this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here<\/a>
\nis a working link to the current incarnation of the article on the CNN
\npage (it works at the time of this writing, at least). This article
\nstill contains the part about Fawaz seen in the Google snippets in the
\nimage above; however, the unidentified female\u2019s quote, which
\nimmediately preceded it, has been removed.<\/p>\n

If we go back to our original search results and click the
\n\u201cCached\u201d link for each of the three \u201cTerror suspect
\n\u2019seemed stunned\u2019\u201d listings, copies of the article do
\ncome up, but they also do not contain the unidentified female\u2019s
\nquote. What we can see by looking at these, however, is that the
\narticle was edited at least twice: once at 10:15pm EST on Dec 25 and
\nonce the following morning at 10:24am EST.<\/p>\n

\"Another<\/p>\n

A search within the CNN domain for the article title, plus \u201c12.25\u2033, reveals<\/a>
\nthat one more edit took place at 9:27pm EST on Dec 25, before the other
\ntwo (although this could have just been the time that the article was
\nfirst posted).<\/p>\n

Another Google search reveals that the section about the
\nunidentified female immediately followed the section about Syed Jafry
\n\u2014 a section which still remains in the article. Further advanced
\nGoogle searching yields the entire section<\/a>
\nwhere the unidentified female was quoted. Here is the deleted passage
\nfrom the CNN report, which was previously appeared between Jafry and
\nFawaz, but was subsequently removed by CNN:<\/p>\n

\n

At one point the suspect grew agitated, a female
\npassenger who didn\u2019t want to identify herself, told WDIV-TV in
\nDetroit, Michigan.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe stood up, he was belligerent, he was yelling swearing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was screaming about Afghanistan.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The current version<\/a>
\non the CNN website gives no notice of there ever having been edited or
\nupdated, even though this passage is now gone. It just says
\n\u201cDecember 26, 2009 10:24 a.m. EST\u201d.<\/p>\n

SOME MORE QUESTIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why did someone at CNN apparently make a conscious decision to
\nquietly remove this quote? Was it because they realized that she was
\nnot on Flight 253? If so, why didn\u2019t they notify the public of
\nthe initial error? Even if they didn\u2019t originally think it was a
\nbig deal, it certainly became one once the media began quoting the same
\ntiny snippet from her interview ad nauseam, painting a false picture of
\nMutallab\u2019s behavior. Did they really not connect the dots and
\nrealize that she was apparently talking about the same man Rosenfield
\nreported on? Did no one in the media make this connection? Did no one
\nin the media remember anything about the story that CNN\u2019s Holmes
\ncalled \u201ca little scary\u201dand Mike Rosenfield himself called
\n\u201cpretty coincidental\u201d, even as it became increasingly
\nsignificant, especially Sunday?<\/p>\n

CONVENIENT MISREPORTING<\/strong><\/p>\n

The introduction to this article makes reference to how all of this
\nwas \u201cconvenient misreporting\u201d. It was convenient because
\nmore and more information is coming out that makes this event look like
\na set up, and Mutallab a patsy\/dupe manipulated by U.S. intelligence
\nassets and other interested parties to play a role in this
\n\u201cfailed bombing\u201d, which will now serve as a pretext for
\nfurther military action and probably an invasion of Yemen, virtual-strip-search body scanners <\/a>at airports, renewal of the Patriot Act<\/a>, and much, much more.<\/p>\n

If you think this is a \u201cconspiracy theory\u201d, and that our
\nwise and benevolent leaders would never consider doing such a thing (guess again<\/a>), let alone actually go through with it, you had better read some real history<\/a>.
\nFalse flag terrorism is nothing new. In fact, if this was an actual
\n(failed) surprise attack, it would be an exception to the rule.<\/p>\n

In the critical first days after the \u201cfailed bombing\u201d,
\nwhen the public was most actively seeking out information about the
\nevent and people were still forming their opinions about what had
\ntranspired, the widespread reports that Mutallab was \u201cscreaming
\nabout Afghanistan\u201d at the time of the attack surely helped sell
\nthe claims being made by usually-anonymous \u201cofficial
\nsources\u201d that Mutallab was a monster; a true radical, linked to a
\nlarger \u201cal Qaeda\u201d-affiliated network which is planning to
\nlaunch more attacks. \u201cThe Man, The Menace\u201d, as reporter Andrea Isom<\/a>
\ncalled him on Dec 25. Not a dull, quiet, \u201cpoor\u201d-looking,
\n\u201csurprised\u201d-looking patsy \u201cin a trance\u201d.<\/p>\n

The mainstream press seems to have essentially quietly dropped the
\n\u201cscreaming about Afghanistan\u201d meme. However, people who do
\nnot usually follow current events have largely tuned out already. Most
\npeople who are <\/em>still following the story, and who have
\nnoticed all of the passenger reports about how calm and quiet Mutallab
\nwas, will not have the information contained in this article and
\ntherefore will not realize that the reports to the contrary were
\napparently bogus all along. Many will simply reconcile the supposedly
\n\u201cconflicting reports\u201d in their minds as meaning that he
\nmust have been calm and quiet at one point, and \u201cscreaming about
\nAfghanistan\u201d at another. This means that this convenient mythical
\nimage will live on in the minds of many.<\/p>\n

Further Reading:
\nFalse Flag Event in Detroit a Pretext to Invade Yemen<\/a>
\nObama Blames al-Qaeda for Christmas False Flag, Sets Stage for Yemen Attack<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Related Posts:<\/h3>\n