Nearly two years before the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Egypt Air Flight 990 took off from Kennedy Airport bound for Cairo and inexplicably crashed into the Atlantic off Nantucket, Mass., killing all 217 aboard.
U.S. investigators determined the relief co-pilot, Gamil el-Batouty, deliberately crashed the plane. Those findings were released just five months before Sept. 11.
Batouty’s last words, according to investigators, were in the form of Muslim prayer in Arabic: “I rely on Allah.” He said it 11 times before the aircraft began its sudden descent from 33,000 feet to 16,000 feet.
The auto-pilot was switched off before the steep dive and both engines were shut off. Mechanical failure was ruled out.
Among the passengers were dozens of high-ranking Egyptian military officers.
Can I ask a stupid question?
Why haven’t there been serious questions raised about this disaster in light of the events of Sept. 11? Does it seem logical, following the recent events and all we have learned about the suicidal nature of Islamist terrorism, that this crash was part of a chain of events including the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, possibly the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building in 1996 and possibly the downing of TWA Flight 800 in December 1996?
Think about it. What we know about the Egypt Air crash is that a Muslim co-pilot deliberately crashed the plane into the ocean. It was carrying high-ranking Egyptian army officers. If Osama bin Laden and his Islamist terror gang hate anyone as much as the United States, it may well be the current regime in Egypt.
Yet, with all the extensive media coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks, there has been precious little interest shown in this earlier suicide downing of an airliner. There has been no linkage made by government officials.
Why is it important to re-examine this earlier incident? Because knowing the truth is always important. Because it is critical that Americans – and the rest of the civilized world – understand the extent of the threat we face. Because this war is clearly not winding down, despite the advances in Afghanistan.
This war has been going on for a long time under the radar screen. It seems clear to me there was a deliberate and conscious attempt by the previous administration to minimize – at all costs – the threat of Islamic terrorism to the United States. It was evidently a politically inconvenient reality, so it was not just ignored, it was covered up, it was obscured. The American people were deliberately deceived.
Personally, I’d like to know specifically who was on that Egypt Air flight. Who were those Egyptian military officers? Who were the other passengers? This was not just a “suicide” as we were told; it was most likely an act of suicide terror – just like the attacks of Sept. 11.
Egypt, too, has officially rejected this possibility. No wonder. Hosni Mubarak has always sought to minimize the threat to his regime posed by Islamists – even though they assassinated his predecessor, Anwar Sadat.
I believe the reason there’s been such stunning silence about Egypt Air Flight 990 is because the truth about it would raise other questions – questions about TWA Flight 800 and the Oklahoma City bombing. For some reason, probably because deliberate government cover-ups tend to be bi-partisan in nature, even the new administration has been unwilling to reopen investigations and re-evaluate old evidence in the light of new developments.
But, I believe, it’s time for the truth – no matter what the cost to individual careers.
Government officials and investigators do not work for politicians. They work for the people. And the people deserve the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
For those who have not read WorldNetDaily’s extensive coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing and the TWA Flight 800 crash, this might be a good time to catch up.
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