Airline Terrorism

Great.

Air passengers across Europe faced major delays on Thursday after London's Heathrow Airport was closed to all incoming flights as police said they had disrupted a major terrorist plot.

In a statement, BAA, which owns Heathrow, said the airport had been closed to all flights not already in the air due to congestion caused by heightened security checks.

You'd think the Brits would have been a bit better at this. Seems that they are still having issues with their home grown terrorists.

From Counterterrorism Blog:

Quick reaction: The British security reports about a plot to destroy airliners traveling from London to the US and the decision by UK authorities to ban passengers hand bags on board brings back the whole question of the "factory" again, an issue I have been tiredly raising with legislators and officials on both sides of the Atlantic: From shoes to hand bags the Jihadists are not letting go of their morbid fantasy: bleeding the skies over the Atlantic. While most investigation will direct itself on the "hand bag" weapon in the next few hours and probably days, the larger question on the mind of Jihadism analysts will certainly be: where do these Jihadists come from and how come there are more of them?

He's got a bunch of questions on topic as well.

As for the Egyptian "Students," it appears that a couple have turned themselves in and one was caught.

Three Egyptian students who were being sought for failing to turn up for an exchange program at Montana State University were taken into custody Wednesday, more than a week after they arrived in the United States.

One student was arrested in Minnesota, and two others surrendered to authorities in New Jersey. They were among 11 students being sought by law enforcement after they failed to attend a monthlong program on the English language and U.S. history and culture in Bozeman, Mont., the FBI said.

And

Eight students remain at large. They arrived in New York on July 29 as part of a group of 17 students. Six students reported to Bozeman on time.

The missing students pose no terrorism threat, the FBI said.

I'd really like to know how the FBI has come to categorically decide that none of these students are a terrorism threat. The details are a touch lacking. This report is a touch baffling as well.

The search continues for the eight remaining Egyptian students, authorities said.

Federal authorities began thoroughly tracking international students after learning that one of the 9/11 hijackers was in the country on an expired student visa.

FBI and immigration officials confirmed there's no evidence pointing to criminal activity or a terrorist threat. However, The Associated Press quoted a law enforcement official as saying that the students could be sent home when found because they violated the terms of their visas.

Yeah, the "thorough" tracking seems to be lacking. I'd also state that some of the 9/11 terrorists likely wouldn't have shown any "evidence" of criminal or terrorist activity prior to their flying planes into skyscrapers.