France: Mistakes Were Made
Six cases of mistaken identity were behind the pre-Christmas grounding of six Air France flights between Paris and Los Angeles over terrorism fears, a police official said Friday.
The names of six passengers were similar to those of terrorist suspects provided by the FBI, prompting the French government to halt the flights, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Pierre Debue, director of the French border police, said one name on the list turned out to be that of a 5-year-old child. The Wall Street Journal on Friday said two other suspected terrorists turned out to be an elderly Chinese woman and a Welsh insurance agent.
French police officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said errors in spelling and transcription of Arabic names played a role in the mix-up. But Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said it was better to err on the side of caution.
"It's a period of tension and a period of risk," he said. "I prefer the principle of precaution."
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Matt's Chat
I couldn't agree more with a Frenchman... For you locals, "Doug, write this down!"Mark's Remarks
I could not agree more....this is what gets me about liberals. They are such complainers you cannot win. If we did nothing, including elevating the alert level, and something terrible happened-they would be all over things. Well, nothing has happened so far, THANK GOD!, and they are still upset, only this time that nothing has happened. Give me a break!
