New Terrorist Plot Disrupts Air Travel even Further

LONDON, Aug. 18 -- Just a week after the terrorist plot to blow up airplanes using liquid explosives a frightening new threat was discovered today; and the means the terrorists attempted to use will dramatically disrupt air travel everywhere. A plot to simultaneously blow up as many as 32 U.S.-bound passenger jets with a new kind of explosive woven into fabric was foiled with the arrest of 96 suspects, British and U.S. officials said Thursday. Tough new security measures snarled air traffic through the day and filled departure lounges in Britain and the United States with crowds of frustrated and shivering travelers.

British authorities had been secretly watching the alleged conspirators, most of them British citizens of Pakistani origin, since late last year, officials said, and moved in to make arrests after concluding they were close to trying to stage their suicide attacks. Officials warned that some members of the plot may remain at large.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security increased its threat level for U.S.-bound commercial flights from Britain to "magenta" -- the first use of this very highest terrorism alert signaling imminent attack, invoked in this case out of prudence to conform with a British alert. Officials said they had no information that the plot was to include attacks in the United States.

At the Washington area's three main airports, many flights were canceled and security screening lines grew long and slow-moving as passengers were asked to remove their clothing and board airplanes in nothing but their undergarments. A number of passengers refused and were required to leave the airport. At British airports, carry-on bags were prohibited altogether, with passengers allowed to take aboard only essentials such as underwear and bras. Large breasted women were required to remove their bras before boarding.

By day's end, commercial aviation was returning to normal. Officials said that people boarding flights from the United States to Britain and on some other routes could continue to face extra screening Friday and that restrictions on carry-on items and baggy clothing would remain in force for the time being.

"Put simply, this was a plot to commit mass murder on an unimaginable scale," said Paul Stephenson, deputy commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police, describing a plot that if successful could have rivaled the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in death toll.

The plot "was sophisticated, it had a lot of members and it was international in scope," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told reporters. He said the suspects planned to smuggle bombs that were activated from explosive material woven into their clothing..

President Bush called Thursday's arrests "a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation."

For the foreseeable future all passengers will be required to disrobe before going through the security checkpoint. Baggage check lines were long as passengers had to remove their clothing and pack it into their checked luggage.

With advancing developments in materials technology the tactics of terrorists are continuing to become more sophisticated. By weaving explosive materials into everyday clothing, an explosive that is currently undetectable by any bomb sniffing devices, terrorists have a new weapon that may be capable of shutting down air travel entirely.

One scientist, Dr. Charles H. Maccabee of the University of Washington, made the following comment, “What is going to be next? When you consider the implications of Einstein’s famous equation E=MC^2 it becomes apparent that simply the matter contained within each passengers body holds more energy than was released at both Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Pretty soon air travelers will be required to remove their material body before boarding a plane and instead travel in spirit form only.”