# 11 Egyptian "Sudents" Disaapear-Homeland Security, anybody? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 9, 2006, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988 "2006-08-09T11:08:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988/1 "2006-08-09T11:08:21Z")
So, the NYTimes reports that 11 egyptian exchange studenst are missing! These students were headed for Montana, but failed to show up. I thought we we supposed to be watching this? Maybe Al-Queda has a new crop of wanna-be martyrs-should we be checking airports now? Homeland security, indeed! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988/2 "2006-08-09T11:15:35Z")
Because they’ve disappeared, then they must be terrorists, is that what you’re saying? There’s literally hundreds of things that could have happened to them, from a car accident to them deciding to do some unscheduled tourism, but you immediately leap to terrorism. Hey, maybe Homeland Security already has them. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988/3 "2006-08-09T11:28:17Z")
I read it that the OP was implying that Homeland Security was overzealous, and responsible for the disappearance, not that they are saying the students are actually terrorists. It might just be me though, and you are correct in your understanding **Menocchio**. 😕 Link to the article please? ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988/4 "2006-08-09T11:35:36Z")
Here are a [couple](http://www.helenair.com/articles/2006/08/08/national/a01080806_03.txt) of [links](http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news&id=4442690). I didn’t find the NYT article. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988/5 "2006-08-09T11:45:03Z")
_reads the articles_ Wow, it does seem like a potential (big) problem. Maybe it was a misunderstanding on their part as to when they had to be at the classes? There isn’t enough information to really be able to tell, but the fact that eleven of them are missing, while six of the seventeen that arrived did make it to where they were supposed to be does not bode well. I hope this situation is straightened out soon. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988/6 "2006-08-09T11:47:09Z")
Strike my previous musings, this: [QUOTE=WABC article] Experts say what’s troubling is that the FBI has been unable to track them either through e-mail messages or bank transactions. [/QUOTE] changes them completely! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988/7 "2006-08-09T11:58:36Z")
When that used to happen in Soviet days, it was usually assumed the disappeared people had defected. Happens all the time. Would you rather live in Egypt or the US? Further, wouldn’t a legal domestic terrorist be more useful to nefarious causes than a bunch of illegals with no papers? Or could something sinister have happened to _them_? ---
**Author:** ![Ponster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponster/32/17081_2.png) [@Ponster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponster)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988/8 "2006-08-09T12:01:39Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] When that used to happen in Soviet days, it was usually assumed the disappeared people had defected. Happens all the time. Would you rather live in Egypt or the US? [/QUOTE] Err, probably Egypt to be honest. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988/9 "2006-08-09T12:10:53Z")
**jjimm** , even so eleven of these exchange students (let us leave out country for the moment) have vanished into the ether, the FBI cannot find their trail to track them. That is a bit ominous don’t you think? It _might_ be that they were carrying on as others from their country have done, (like the fellow who had also gone missing at the end of one of the articles, who blithely said he was staying until his visa expired) and thought nothing of it. That is foolish on their parts, because now they will get deported, without getting a chance to better themselves academically. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988/10 "2006-08-09T12:18:08Z")
Eleven Egyptian students say they want to go to Montana, and nobody gets suspicious about _that_? – CalMeacham, who once had a Montanan roommate. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988/11 "2006-08-09T12:42:10Z")
As i say, it is troubling that 5 years AFTER 9/11, we are still admitting people from places like Egypt, and have NO capability to track them. Now, Iranian president 9and suspected nutjob) Ahmadenajad is promising that the US will experience "something big’ on August 22. This is carey-i certainly WON’T be in NYC on that date. Question; are we still admitting Iranian “students”? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988/12 "2006-08-09T12:44:36Z")
[QUOTE=Zabali\_Clawbane] **jjimm** , even so eleven of these exchange students (let us leave out country for the moment) have vanished into the ether, the FBI cannot find their trail to track them. That is a bit ominous don’t you think? [/QUOTE] I’d find it far more ominous if government agencies _were_ able to track people’s movements with such ease. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988/13 "2006-08-09T12:48:25Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] I’d find it far more ominous if government agencies _were_ able to track people’s movements with such ease. [/QUOTE] True! I concede your point. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![RTA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RTA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTA)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988/14 "2006-08-09T12:51:11Z")
I believe there are people in the West Wing who think that a terror attack on US soil before November would be like pennies straight from heaven. ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988/15 "2006-08-09T12:52:26Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] As i say, it is troubling that 5 years AFTER 9/11, we are still admitting people from places like Egypt, and have NO capability to track them. Now, Iranian president 9and suspected nutjob) Ahmadenajad is promising that the US will experience "something big’ on August 22. This is carey-i certainly WON’T be in NYC on that date. Question; are we still admitting Iranian “students”? [/QUOTE] You’re absolutely right. Best seal the borders now, because at least no [home-bred individual](http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/dawning_1.html) will be a threat… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988/16 "2006-08-09T12:57:24Z")
[QUOTE=Menocchio] Because they’ve disappeared, then they must be terrorists, is that what you’re saying? There’s literally hundreds of things that could have happened to them, from a car accident to them deciding to do some unscheduled tourism, but you immediately leap to terrorism. Hey, maybe Homeland Security already has them. [/QUOTE] All **Eleven** of them? _All at **once** _? :dubious: :dubious: :dubious: :dubious: :dubious: :dubious: NOT! Hardly! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988/17 "2006-08-09T13:02:20Z")
[QUOTE=Martiju] You’re absolutely right. Best seal the borders now, because at least no [home-bred individual](http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/dawning_1.html) will be a threat… [/QUOTE] Well not to hijack the thread but unless McVeigh actually had ties to any number of terrorist organizations, he is not an actual terrorist. He blew up a building to get revenge for Ruby Ridge and Waco but did not engage in “terrorist” activites per se. Terrorism by definition is violence or the threat of violence to frighten people or a government into coercion. (At least to date, there has been no proof that McVeigh had ties to any terrorist organization) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988/18 "2006-08-09T13:04:01Z")
[QUOTE=RTA] I believe there are people in the West Wing who think that a terror attack on US soil before November would be like pennies straight from heaven. [/QUOTE] Figure it out–the current way to get re-elected is [ol] [li]Scare the Hell outta everybody[/li][li]Blame the Opposition. If the Opposition is actually to blame, so much the better, but it ain’t necessary.[/li][li]Pass laws crafted expressly to be as ineffective as possible, so the problem will remain.[/li][li]Blame the opposition for the bad laws, & the remaining problem.[/li][li]Keep scaring the Hell outta people, right up until Election Day.[/li][li]PROFIT![/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988/19 "2006-08-09T13:04:11Z")
[QUOTE=The Chao Goes Mu] Well not to hijack the thread but unless McVeigh actually had ties to any number of terrorist organizations, he is not an actual terrorist. He blew up a building to get revenge for Ruby Ridge and Waco but did not engage in “terrorist” activites per se. Terrorism by definition is violence or the threat of violence to frighten people or a government into coercion. (At least to date, there has been no proof that McVeigh had ties to any terrorist organization) [/QUOTE] Fair point. I just think it’s an abhorrent view that them dirty foreigners are out to get us! A better example might have been the 7/7 bombers in London, who were from the UK. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2006, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988/20 "2006-08-09T13:14:22Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] Figure it out–the current way to get re-elected is [ol] [li]Scare the Hell outta everybody[/li][li]Blame the Opposition. If the Opposition is actually to blame, so much the better, but it ain’t necessary.[/li][li]Pass laws crafted expressly to be as ineffective as possible, so the problem will remain.[/li][li]Blame the opposition for the bad laws, & the remaining problem.[/li][li]Keep scaring the Hell outta people, right up until Election Day.[/li][li]PROFIT![/li][/ol] [/QUOTE] It’s also a good way to become a dictator. It worked for [this guy](http://history1900s.about.com/library/holocaust/blhitler4.htm) > [@](#): > > Fair point. I just think it’s an abhorrent view that them dirty foreigners are out to get us! A better example might have been the 7/7 bombers in London, who were from the UK. I see what you’re saying but I can also understand the panic of losing track of 11 students hailing from Egypt. It may very well be that they are no threat at all but I do think it does raise some red flags. Not showing up at their planned destination point is one thing but to have no bank activity either? :dubious: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/11-egyptian-sudents-disaapear-homeland-security-anybody/367988.md?page=2)