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“There are a number of commercial airliners in Libya that are missing. … We found out on September 11 what can happen with hijacked planes,” one official reportedly told the Washington Free Beacon.

The aircraft were reportedly stolen in August after Islamists took control of the Tripoli International Airport. It was later reported that 11 commercial jetliners were missing.

On Sept. 11, 2012, four Americans were killed during a terrorist attack on a U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya. At first, the Obama administration blamed the attack on a spontaneous protest over an anti-Muslim YouTube video.

When pressed by the Free Beacon, a “senior State Department counterterrorism official” refused to comment on reports of stolen jetliners in Libya. Another State Department told the online publication, “We can’t confirm that.”

It was also reported on Tuesday that Islamic State militants beheaded a second American journalist, Steven Sotloff. Just as they did when they murdered photojournalist James Foley, the terrorists reportedly uploaded a video showing the gruesome execution.

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Originally posted by whozit:
11 missing, this will get everyone at CNN really happy. They love missing airplanes.

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Originally posted by AURaptor:

Wow. The usual suspects sure have been quiet as of late.



Wonder why.

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Algerian reports of jihadist attack threat using commercial aircraft stolen from Libya unlikely to be credible

A Moroccan press report indicated on 13 August that Morocco's air force was on high alert following the theft of several aircraft in Libya that could be used within the region for jihadist attacks in the style of the September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

There have been various reports in Tunisian and Algerian press in recent weeks regarding this same risk. On 6 August, Algerian news site al-Fajr claimed 11 aircraft had been taken from Tripoli International Airport during recent fighting between militias there. The aircraft type was alleged to be Embraer (Embraer 170/190 passenger jets are commonly used by oil companies for charter flights inside Libya). Subsequently, Mohamed Frikha, the CEO of Tunisian airline company Syphax, claimed in an interview with Tunisia's Shems FM that two Airbus-A320 aircraft belonging to Libyan company Ifriqiya had gone missing from Misratah. However, a spokesman for Libya's transport ministry has said that no aircraft are missing.

The militias controlling the main airports in the west are extremely unlikely to allow flights by jihadists. It is also very unlikely that aircraft could have been taken from Tripoli International Airport without the knowledge of the Zintan militias that control it. Some aircraft belonging to Ifriqiya were evacuated with Zintan permission early in the fighting, but any that remained are highly likely to have been damaged, while Tripoli International Airport's infrastructure is also currently unusable. Misratah and Mitiga airports are now the only two functioning international airports in Western Libya.

However, the Misratan Islamist militias that control them will not want to jeopardise the political influence and revenue this affords them by facilitating an 11 September 2001-style attack that would also invite heavy military retaliation from Algeria or other countries. Therefore, even in the unlikely event jihadists had managed to steal aircraft, recruit trained pilots willing to undertake suicide attacks, and secure enough fuel, they would still need to transport the jets to other paved runways large enough to facilitate take-off (for instance remote airstrips or old airbases), heightening the risk such movements would be spotted by foreign intelligence agency surveillance.

FORECAST
All this means that the threat of an 11 September 2001-style attack is probably not credible. However, the reports of Algerian and Moroccan military alerts and air defence battery deployments do signal an increased risk of shootdown of unidentified aircraft that have come from Libyan airspace.

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Originally posted by AURaptor:

( And yes, we were all conservatives on 9-11, hon. At least, those who matter. I know there's a tiny fraction of folks who hate everything for what America and decent folk stand. We get it. )

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Originally posted by AURaptor:
Conservative libertarian is how I've described my political views.

Try to keep up.

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Originally posted by AURaptor:
9-11 is why.

Stop being a gorram idiot.

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"The American peace has proven itself peaceful, stable, and durable. Yet no moment in international politics can be frozen in time: even a global Pax Americana will not preserve itself." To preserve this "American peace" through the 21st century, the PNAC report concludes that the global order "must have a secure foundation on unquestioned U.S. military preeminence." The report struck a prescient note when it observed that "the process of transformation is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event--like a new Pearl Harbor."

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Leading up to the somber anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, there are fresh fears of possible 9/11-style attacks taking place across North Africa as radical Islamist groups in Libya have reportedly seized nearly a dozen commercial airliners in the last month.

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So, there are a lot of regional airplanes missing.

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Originally posted by AURaptor:

Where's Don Lemon asking if these planes may have been sucked into a black hole, as he did w/ MH 370 ?

I mean, IS it preposterous to think ? Really ?

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The use of airplanes as terrorist weapons in 2001 makes it all too easy for us to anticipate their being used that way again. And despite denials from all sides — the airlines who are not missing any planes, the Libyan transport ministry, and the anti-government forces in control of the airport — the tales have found a ready audience among a populace already on edge in anticipation of the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

However, there have been no statements from the State Department, the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, or any other authority warning of stolen airliners. The national threat level has not been raised. Algerian and Moroccan military and air defense, already on high alert due to the unrest in nearby Libya, would undoubtedly have noticed multiple flights of unidentified passenger aircraft.

As a thread on the aviation community site airliners.net documents, several of the planes claimed in rumors as "missing" or "stolen" have actually been accounted for, having been either caught outside of Tripoli at the time the airport fell to opposition forces or relocated by their operators (Air Contractors pf Dublin) to an airport in Malta for safekeeping. Some of the other airliners were likely destroyed in the fighting or damaged beyond the possibility of operation.

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Originally posted by ElvisChrist:


It's no more preposterous than you trying to tell everyone how "libertarian" you are, while citing 9/11 as your reason for freaking out over some allegedly *possibly* missing planes, all while arguing that they couldn't pose any threat to the U.S. Now THAT is preposterous!

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And while I've stated I find it very unlikely they'd use those planes on the US, I and many do find it very credible that they could use them on other targets in the region and in Europe. Yes, that's a valid concern. And if you're not bright enough to even acknowledge that much, then you're a true moron. And I'm wasting my time even responding to you.

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Thing is, there really aren't any "missing" planes to begin with.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Rappy, your post about why we should be concerned about the "missing planes" was...

and I quote... "9-11".

Did you "lie" about anything? Well, yes.

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Oh, and nobody is focusing on how "libertarian" you are, just on how wrong you are!

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Originally posted by ElvisChrist:

If I bring up your supposedly "libertarian" beliefs, it's only to show your hypocrisy on this and a great deal of other issues.

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You're paranoid. You think everyone's out to get you, and you're seeing conspiracies where there aren't any.

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Originally posted by AURaptor:

Where's Don Lemon asking if these planes may have been sucked into a black hole, as he did w/ MH 370 ?

I mean, IS it preposterous to think ? Really ?

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
You're panicked, once again.

9-11 has left you with a case of PTSD. When it comes to any sort of potential/ possible/ imaginable jihadist threat, you're unable to distinguish between the REAL threats, and the very unlikely ones, and the totally impossible ones. AFA these planes are concerned, EVEN IF MISSING they could not possibly form a direct threat to the USA.

Sir, please get some help for those panic episodes.

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You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.

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Originally posted by AURaptor:

Ignoring the problem won't make it go away.

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