If I laugh, just a little bit...
So, the United States government stopped an evil Islamic terrorist from getting to Washington, DC tonight. They took the plane down in Bangor, Maine, pulled the terrorist off the flight, and shipped him back to his home country. All in a day's work in keeping the country safe, right?
Well, the man was Yusef Islam. Sounds terrorist to you, you say? It's not that simple. Much like Mohammed Ali was once Cassius Clay, Yusef Islam had another name. Unlike Mohammed Ali, that other name is the more famous one.
Yes. The United States Government diverted a flight and pulled Cat Stevens off a flight, and shipped him back to Britian. Care to guess Mr. Stevens' crime? Giving to Islamic charities. This put him on the watch list -- y'know, that one that won't let such luminaries such as Ted Kennedy fly?
But to add to the comedy of errors, they apperantly didn't pick up that he was on the watch list until he had boarded his flight and they were on their way to the United States.
Does anybody feel safer, or can we just dismantle the TSA for the joke that it is?
oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world/ it's hard to get by just upon a smile...
Posted by katster at September 21, 2004 10:31 PM
I seem to recall Cat^H^H^HYusef saying some things in support of the Taliban or al-Qaeda at about the time of the US action against Afghanistan. I don't recall the specifics, but it struck me as moderately shocking at the time. Assuming people have had their eye on him as he's high profile, it wouldn't surprise me if he's done something to earn a spot on the watchlist.
On the other hand, if they couldn't spell his name right, maybe they weren't keeping that close a track on him.
Posted by: Warrior Tang at September 23, 2004 08:41 PM