So, 6 Arab men get on my plane. They looked like they were from Central Casting.

[Raven]

A couple of fabulous turbans, flowing garb, beards, the whole thing. They sit across from me. The plane backs away from the gate and then stops. The pilot comes on and says that the "airport" will not let us leave but he doesn't know what the problem is. 45 minutes go by....nothing. Pilot comes on again and says the same thing. Then doors burst open and in come the TSA Agents. They race down the aisle to these guys and start asking questions. The Arab guys don't speak English. There is a lot of chatter back and forth to no avail. TSA Agent run back out of the plane. One TSA Agent returns. Tells the Arab men that they must get their luggage and leave the plane. Arab men respond in their language. Nobody moves. TSA Agent leave, gets someone who speaks the language. There is a conversation. TSA Agent leaves, Arab men stay. This is now about one hour and 15 minutes. We taxi and take off. Land safely in NM. At baggage area I see the Arab men. They have US State Department name tags hanging from around their necks...some sort of a diplomatic peace mission. Good, I'm glad we made them welcome. This was a flight from Dallas. Sigh!

[mike_c]

1. some paranoid passenger undoubtely narked....

Horrors! They might be TERRORISTS! (Cue feinting)

[Iggo]

15. Cowards will be the death of us.

[dashrif]

34. no

it was the pilot they have the last say

[Midlodemocrat]

2. FFS. What a load of crap. Thanks for posting that Raven.

I can't believe the level of ignorance that exists here in this country. It's appalling.

Good to see you!

:hug:

[Raven]

10. Good to see you too! Imagine! State Department clearance and

they still got shit.

[chill_wind]

3. Hooboy. K & R. n/t

[Starbucks Anarchist]

4. If they had turbans and beards, they were likely Sikhs, who are Punjabis, not Arabs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikh

[Raven]

9. thanks. shows ya how ignorant I am!

[Hello_Kitty]

14. Shortly after 9/11 a Sikh Indian was shot to death in Arizona.

By someone who thought he was avenging the event.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

16. Yep, I remember that.

At the time, I (of Indian descent) was living in a small, conservative town attending college. I was very nervous in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.

[Hello_Kitty]

24. A friend of mine was a cousin of his. It was horrible. eom

[Catshrink]

29. Yeah... two miles from my house

and the guy who did it lived in the next block. The helicopters were circling like crazy that night.

[nosmokes]

22. they could have been Sufi, which is a sect that is turbaned and includes

members of most every ethnicity that Islam includes.

[TygrBright]

28. Highly likely. There are substantial Sikh communities in ABQ and Santa Fe.

They are very good neighbors. I wish more would move into my end of the development.

welcomingly,
Bright

[Hawkeye-X]

5. Glad the flight was uneventual albeit silly.

:hug:

[Raven]

13. I thought it was pretty exciting. Now mind you, I'm sitting next to these

guys knitting...with my 1 foot long steel knitting needles...not problem with that, I guess.

[NeedleCast]

6. Good Ol' TSA

Keeping us "safe" from people who look different.

[Xipe Totec]

8. The new fashion police nt

[Xipe Totec]

7. Honestly, the TSA is a cure worse than the disease nt

[NeedleCast]

12. No question

[nosmokes]

19. RAmen to that! n/t

[Canuckistanian]

11. America, land of the free

As long as you don't have a beard or speak a foreign language. Other than that, WELCOME!

[HooptieWagon]

17. A few months ago in Tampa...

... a 'roided out male model soldier wanna-be, attacked and beat the crap out of a Greek Orthodox Priest, thinking he was an arab terrorist.

[hlthe2b]

18. If they were all wearing turbans... they were more likely

Sikhs and neither Arab nor Muslim.. :shrug:

[Orsino]

35. Yeah.

Maybe the OP used the wrong term for the headgear?

[slampoet]

38. Exactly. Most likely Sikhs who are mostly from India. Someone's stupid cost everyone on that Flight

...possibly tens of thousands of dollars.

[DemoTex]

20. " .. fabulous turbans, flowing garb, beards, the whole thing .."

As a former captain for a major airline, I would think this description doesn't come close to meeting the profile of a post-9/11 terrorist. In fact, recent arrests in this country of putative US citizen-terrorists show us that terrorism lurks in many a dark and ignorant rat-hole. Faulkner described that rat-hole well in "Sanctuary." It is the lily-white Popeyes and Snopes that we need to worry about. Verb sap!

[geckosfeet]

21. I almost got arrested for taking pictures in Austin a few years back.

Chimpy had everyone doing the dance.

[jberryhill]

23. Arabs don't generally wear turbans.....

I can't believe how well the Sikhs manage at putting up with this crap.

They looked like this, right?

[Mariana]

25. As if any REAL terrorists would dress that way

making themselves all conspicuous like that. They try to blend in so as to avoid arousing suspicion.

The stupidity of some people just astounds me.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

26. Exactly.

The 9/11 airport-camera footage showed the hijackers dressed in "normal" attire so they could blend in.

[Liberal_in_LA]

27. Wow.. Awful for them.

[a la izquierda]

30. having just sat in a room full of Iranians tonight...

it irks me that this shit STILL goes on.

[harkadog]

31. If they had anything to do with any Peace mission as the OP says

There would have been a State Department official with them. State doesn't let people that it is sponsoring go around the country unattended.

[Raven]

32. There was a man with them. He was sitting up forward on the plane,

by himself. When this whole thing started, he came running back to where they were demanding to know what the TSA was doing..."What is the meaning of this, these men are with me". The TSA Agent told him to return to his seat or he would be taken from the plane.

[harkadog]

36. If he was from State the TSA would have stood down.

Sounds like he was just an associate and private individual.

[midnight]

33. President Obama has been forced to make recess appoitments in hopes of trying

to avoid glitches like this in all areas of govt. I wonder if one of the oppoitments that are being stalled by staybehinds is creating this unfortunate sitiuation?

[thereismore]

37. Turbans: are you sure they weren't Sikhs? nt

[CoffeeCat]

39. Wow, and they would have been removed...

....just because of how they looked and how they were dressed.

We are a sick nation. It's really embarrassing and really shameful.

What a bunch of myopic, crybaby wussies we are, "On no! We can't be
on a plane with anyone who looks different than ME! It's all about
me and I'm dumb and scared!"

That's what it comes down to.

Can you imagine being in a foreign country on a plane--and government
officials storming the plane and forcing you to leave and kicking you
off the flight with no explanation--just because you were an American?

We live in dangerous times...these behaviors are precursors to a potent
form of hate that has fueled atrocities. We need a cure.

[Barack_America]

40. A bunch of white hicks in MI plan to use IEDs to kill cops and we are afraid to say "terrorism".

These guys try to simply board a flight on a diplomatic mission and the whole system freaks out.

:facepalm: to our entire twisted culture.

[Raven]

41. And here is the other side of the coin...

if these men had been terrorists, how did they get as far as they did?
Once they were on the plane, why did it take TSA almost an hour to deal with the problem?

Bad behavior on the part of TSA in every respect.