The Basket
Senior Master Sergeant
- 3,712
- Jun 27, 2007
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Terrorists need publicity
Political dissent fueled the pilot's mindset. Best explanation so far:
'Fanatical' missing Malaysia Airlines plane pilot pictured wearing political T-shirt | Mail Online
The way I understand it, the engines send out performance-related data via the aircraft's satellite communication system. These data are not monitored in real-time, but are used for engine performance tracking, which is used to assist in scheduling inspections.
One such place in Thailand is Utapao Air Base, 90 miles south of Bangkok. During the Vietnam War, Utapao was humming 24 hours a day as a base for B-52′s carrying out bombing raids over North Vietnam. Despite Thailand's studied neutrality on the war in Iraq — one Thai foreign affairs official said during the war that the country had no position — Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra allowed Utapao to be used by American warplanes flying into combat in Iraq, as he had earlier, during the war in Afghanistan.
Utapao is also probably where Qaeda operatives have been interrogated, retired American intelligence officials said, explaining that the base had facilities for sophisticated interrogations.
"I live 2 miles from Utapao and have run into people in military green who act like they do not want to be seen. Twice in the nearby 7-11 they acted strange, refused to make eye contact and appeared unhappy to be recognized as Americans, they jumped into a VW Van with Bangkok plates and others and left quickly. Yes, something is going on there and has been for a while.
It's difficult to describe this, but I left those encounters with the feeling something strange was happening.
No seriously, I don't make stuff up like this; their behavior was really bizarre. When I run into the American Navy people here during the joint Thai/American exercises they usually are very friendly, outgoing and surprised to see an American in a Thai teachers uniform and want information on the best places to go and how to get there. I've even driven some of them to Pattaya over the past few years. But these guys were completely different. I probably should not have mentioned this at all, but the behavior was so strange It's difficult to forget."