The "Flying Imams"

What a stupid term. It always makes me think of the "Flying Wallendas" or the Wizard of Oz's "Flying Monkeys". But i must admit that I know exactly to which imams one is referring, the six muslim clerics booted from a USAirways flight a few months ago due to suspicious behavior noted by passengers on the flight. Their concern about the clerics' behavior, loud "Allahu Akbars!" while waiting at the gate, agitated appearance, angry comments about America, Osama, and Saddam, their requested seatbelt extenders put under the seats, the switching of seats and the worrisome location of those seats, similar in pattern to those of the September 11 attackers, caused the flight to be delayed and the imams asked to leave the plane.

If I had been a passenger on that flight, I would have been relieved. The imams, however, were aggrieved, declaring their removal to be an example of profiling, and racial and religious discrimination.

There were investigations, of course, by Minneapolis police, USAirways, and Homeland Security's Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Secret Service, Transportation Security Administration, the Air Carrier Secutiry Committee of the Air Line Pilots Association, and probably others. All investigations cleared the crew of wrongdoing in the removal of the Muslims.

So now the Council of American-Islamic Relations, is planning to sue. It may just be another attempted shakedown of a major company but I can't see most Americans backing USAirways caving to CAIR's lawsuit. It's way past time to stop giving in to these crooks.