Who Was That Masked Man?

Well maybe he was not wearing a mask but for all I can glean from the news reports he may as well have been wearing a mask. I am referring to the young man whom a passenger of Northwest Flight 253 was speaking about in the following quote in White House: Failed Airline Bombing Was Attempted Act of Terrorism at FoxNews.

"Jafri said he was seated three rows behind the passenger and said he saw a glow, and noticed a smoke smell. Then, he said, "a young man behind me jumped on him.""

That man appears to be a hero. From all that has been reported so far he is the first to have taken action when suspected terrorist Abdul Mudallah allegedly attempted to set of a bomb or incendiary device aboard the flight as it was about to land in Detroit. My guess is that others on the aircraft joined the young hero in his successful attempt to stop Mudallah from causing a major catastrophe; there were a reported 278 passengers on that plane. It has been reported that Mudalla claimed to have been associated with Al Qaeda and at least one report I read said he claimed he was acting under orders from Al Qaeda, see the article: Al-Qaida link in failed plane attack.

Is this the wake up call we need or was this guy just a psycho. Even if he is a real terrorist, and if he was actually acting under orders of Al Qaeda, I doubt that the American people will fully realize the import of this event, that being: They still hate us and are trying to destroy us one bit at a time. The they are radical Islamists, and they are getting help from those in Islam, and those in Washington (as in DC) who remain silent while it happens. Of course there will be an outcry if these stories and allegations are verified and security at the airports will increase. You can bet though more such attacks or at least attempts will continue. Maybe not on a plane, maybe next time in a crowded railway station, or in a crowded restaurant, or in a school during classes, wherever it is you can bet there will be lots of people around. The terrorists love effect and they love to better the odds of them winning. The more people injured or killed, by a single suicide bomber, the greater the effect and the more the odds get moved toward being in their favor.

Be careful. Stay on the lookout for anything suspicious. Report suspicious activity to the police. Stay safe, but if necessary, do what the young man on the plane did and be prepared to risk it all to save some lives, one of which may be your own. Don't have the attitude that you cannot make a difference. I don't know if the lady who was reported, in the article Explosive device set off aboard airliner as saying the following had a defeatist attitude or if maybe she did something to help, but if you think like this before getting involved chances are you have already lost much of the fight: "It was terrifying, I think we all thought we weren't going to land, we weren't going to make it." No, not everyone thought they would not make it; some people had the foresight to realize they could make a difference and had the courage to do something about it and prevent a tragedy from unfolding. My hat goes off to that masked young man and the others who assisted him in subduing the suspect and putting out the flames. I am sure he was probably scared, the others who assisted him likewise. The thing is though they decided to do something instead of just give into the fear that they were going to die. They may have been scared, so scared they took action, but action is exactly that which was necessary and was certainly better than be scared into giving up.

All the best,
Glenn B