Let's return to the AP story itself. We read the following:
As Attorney General John Ashcroft launched a "national neighborhood watch" with the release of the photos, FBI Director Robert Mueller acknowledged that questions remained about whether an accompanying list contained the true names of the 19.
"What we are currently doing is determining whether, when these individuals came to the United States, these were their real names or they changed their names for use with false identification in the United States," Mueller said.
The FBI director said there was evidence that one or more of the hijackers had had contacts with al-Qaida, the network associated with Osama bin Laden, the exiled Saudi millionaire who is the Bush administration's top suspect in the attacks.
This story indicates that, as of September 27, the FBI was not certain whether these suspects had used their real names. The remainder of the story listed each of their names, along with possible aliases. The aliases all look like Arab names.
I have discovered no additional information released to the general public regarding these suspects.
I now backtrack to the morning of September 11. The issue that I am trying to deal with is airline security. To draw rational conclusions about how the alleged hijackers accomplished their acts of terrorism, we must begin with airline security.
The United States has now gone to war because of a breakdown somewhere in airline security procedures. Yet nobody in government is blaming the specific airlines. They are blaming the procedures.
Step One is check-in.
On September 11, airline check-in counters were the only places in the United States that required travellers to present a photo ID in order to travel. A photo ID meant (and still means) a card issued by some branch of civil government. Years ago, the United States government took the first step toward a national ID card when it mandated the requirement that all passengers present a photo ID card before being allowed to get on a commercial airplane.
This means that the tightest security that the typical American ever confronts is airport security. This is the model for all other security systems governing the general public.
Let's go through the check-in routine together. Pretend that it's September 11, and you are a check-in agent at either a United Airlines counter or an American Airlines counter. It is your job to ask the standard questions. "Did you pack your own luggage? Have you had it in your possession at all times?" Then you ask for a photo ID. The name on the ID must match the name on the ticket. The photo must match the person presenting the card.
lets begin with American Airlines, Flight 11. This was the plane that crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
The CNN page says that there were 92 people on board.
None of the 86 names is an Arab name. This is very, very strange. First, how did the CNN list-compiler know that there were 92 people on board? Five of them are not listed. Second, how did anyone get on board who was not on the list of ticketed passengers?
