Police Report: American Airlines Flight 590
By Annie Jacobson

Sources inside American Airlines tell me that the airline has no intention of settling last week's lawsuit filed in U.S. district court. David Al-Watan, Talal Cholagh, Ali Alzerej, Hassan Alzerej, Hussein Alsalih and Mohammad Al-Saedy are seeking "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in damages for racial profiling.

This 12-page police report explains why American Airlines should never pay these men a dime. It also explains why several names should be added to the 800,000+ name no-fly list — if they haven't been added already.

Aviation security is a national security issue. There should be a zero tolerance policy in effect for anyone who acts like a bully in airports and on airplanes. Shame on the attorneys who represent people like this and shame on the journalists and news organizations who belittled the female passenger who opted out of having her kids bullied by a drunk actor named Dave Al-Watan. (Each flight attendant interviewed by the police felt the behavior of Al-Watan and his cohorts was belligerent, as did at least one other male passenger interview by police).

The men, it turns out, had been hired by the U.S. Military as "authentic Iraqi" actors in Iraq-war, "role-playing scenarios." I asked a U.S. Federal Air Marshal what this meant: "Most likely these guys were at Ft. Irwin playing terrorists and insurgents," he said.

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