French authorities continue to investigate the causes of the Air France AF447 crash, as an expert from the University of Indianapolis writes of terrorism. He points to the history of extremism and circumstantial evidence as justification for his claim.
There have been no claims of responsibility regarding the crash and no indications of sabotage, however the disappearance of a large airliner without apparent warning is particularly rare, experts say. No potential causes for the airplane disaster have been ruled out, although authorities have observed there was
no in-flight breakup of the plane.
Douglas Woodell, assistant professor of international relations at the University of Indiana, considers
terrorism a possibility, however because of terrorism around Brazil as well as the fact that a French military base recently opened on the Arabian peninsula. At the same time authorities reported another Air France flight from Buenos Aire to Paris was interrupted due to a bomb threat.
“During the past week, the French government announced the landmark opening of a military base in Abu Dhabi, the first permanent overseas military base the French have opened since they decolonized in the early 1960s,” Woodwell says. “The fact that the United States had stationed troops on the Arabian Peninsula during and after the Gulf War was probably the most important concrete factor motivating Al Qaeda in its subsequent attacks on the United States, including 9/11. The French basing agreement was announced on January 15, which is sufficient time for Al Qaeda sympathizers to organize a response.”
Woodwell points to Al Qaeda sympathizers in South America in the border areas of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. He observes the population there has a history of militancy.
“Terrorists from this area are believed to have launched attacks against the Israeli Embassy and a Jewish community center in Argentina in the early ‘90s, killing hundreds of people,” he says. “Radical groups recruiting amid this often-alienated Muslim diaspora would have no problem finding young men or women willing to bring down an airliner.”
There has been other speculation other than that of Woodwell. On June 10 authorities released the names of two passengers they say have names linked to Islamic terrorism. Computer malfunctions have been found, which leads some
aviation folk to consider these to have been purposeful.
A number of
news sources, and many blogs, have speculated a terrorist attack as the cause of the airplane disaster. Even the
Drudge Report got into the act by revealing information that there were names from a terrorist group from Brazil on the list of passengers. One blog poster hypothesizes, “I wonder if it could be a non-chemical/non-explosive device which somehow attacks the electric system of the jet making it wild and or unresponsive to the cockpit. Maybe with microwaves or---“
As France continues to deal with its Muslim population, including issues about women’s dress and other customs, there are those who wonder whether this treatment along with France’s creation of a new base in the Middle East and other issues might have provoked terrorists to attack. These remain unanswered issues as folks like Douglas Woodell consider the possibility of the Flight 447 being more than an accident.
