The American Spectator : Ordinary Heroes

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Ordinary Heroes

By RiShawn Biddle on 12.30.09 @ 6:07AM

Flight 253's connection to Flight 93.

Passengers aboard a wide-body jet sit awaiting their arrival to an American city. Suddenly, one passenger -- a son of a prosperous Nigerian family-turned-Islamic terrorist -- attempts a suicide bombing by detonating the chemical bomb he managed to sneak through airport security. But the passengers, including a guy heading out to visit his relatives, managed to subdue the menace.

As you know by now, this happened last week aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253, when Dutch tourist Jasper Schuringa and his fellow passengers took down banker's son Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and kept him handcuffed until the Airbus jet landed at Detroit International Airport. But it echoes what medical device executive Thomas Burnett Jr. and three other passengers did eight years ago when they gave their lives to thwart an attempt by four al-Qaeda terrorists to crash United Flight 93 into Washington, D.C. -- and averted an even greater death toll arising from the September 11 massacres.

And both events prove once again that government alone cannot ensure security and freedom for Americans or citizens in other countries. Ultimately, it depends on ordinary people to rise to an occasion, even at the expense of their own lives.

Certainly the incident is just another reminder that the approach to airport security and anti-terrorism undertaken by the Bush and Obama administrations has been anything but a success. Although American lives haven't been lost to suicide hijackings since September 11, 2001, this has little to do with the restrictions on large lotion bottles and random searches undertaken by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Nine-eleven, after all, was a once-in-the-lifetime confluence of opportunistic planning by Osama bin Laden, Mohamed Atta and Zacarias Moussaoui -- and the utter failure of imagination by U.S. and foreign intelligence.

But, as proven by Hamas during the Palestinian Intifada against Israel, one-man suicide bombings are always possible and, in fact, are likely when governments fail in surveillance. Such is exemplified by Flight 253. American, Dutch and Yemeni officials spar over who is accountable for the incident, even as evidence suggests that all three are to blame. Even President Barack Obama admitted his outrage at such "human and systemic failures" as the lack of air marshals on the flight -- even though Amsterdam has become increasingly notorious for being a transfer point for Koran-touting hypocrites misinterpreting scripture to justify murder.

But Flight 253 also proves that muscle-bound superheroes found in The Iliad and the Terminator series are little more than mythology. As psychologist Philip Zimbardo declares, anyone can be a hero when the time calls for it. This is especially true when tyranny puts our liberties at stake. The leading lights of freedom fights such as the Revolutionary War, the abolitionist movement, and the Cold War weren't patricians, but New England blacksmiths, ex-slaves, and dock workers living anonymously before duty called them to defend their fellow men and women.

Schuringa and his fellow passengers, happily in one piece, are in the same pantheon as these ordinary people. They also find themselves in good company with the otherwise-anonymous men from the more-immediate past: The heroes of Flight 93, who stopped one of the four teams of al Qaeda terrorists from fulfilling their death plot.

These weren't men of action. Save for being the U.S. National Collegiate Judo champion back in his days attending the University of Rochester, Jeremy Logan Glick spent most of his life toiling as an executive at a Silicon Valley consultancy. Mark Bingham was a public relations executive who played in rugby tournaments in his spare time. Todd Beamer, whose battle cry "Let's roll" is now as much a call to heroism as the Marine Corps "Semper Fi," was a father of two with a daughter on the way.

Then there was Thomas Burnett Jr., whom this writer had met five days before 9/11 during one of the many roadshows he made as chief operating officer of Thoratec, a maker of ventricular aid devices. An affable Bloomington, Minn., native, Burnett didn't exactly stand out as the hero he became; he spent most of his time answering questions about corporate financials, explaining why Thoratec was the standout firm in its market sector, and -- after I had mentioned that I should clean my hands before touching one of the devices -- quipping that he'd just clean it off and place it into a patient anyway.

After the 30 minute meeting, Burnett flew off to Minneapolis, then to Edison, N.J., before switching his flight that Sept. 11, for the earlier Flight 93 just so he could get home to his wife and three children. By the time it crashed into a field in Stonycreek Township, Penn., Burnett, along with Glick, Bingham and Beamer, had said good-bye to their families and struck a blow against terror.

As David Bowie would sing, we can all be heroes for just one day. For the sake of preserving liberty and freedom, this isn't an option.

topics:
Thomas Burnett Jr., Jasper Schuringa

About the Author

RiShawn Biddle the editor of Dropout Nation , is co-author of A Byte at the Apple: Rethinking Education Data for the Post-NCLB Era. He can be followed at Twitter.com/dropoutnation.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (22) | Leave a comment

Appleby| 12.30.09 @ 6:37AM

I fully expect one of the Obama drones to file charges against anyone who touched the would-be bomber -- for racism, assault, Islamophobia and Hate Crimes unspecified. Oh, and lets not forget sex crimes, for touching his exploding underpants.

And we will immediately start searching people who could not possibly be dangerous (newborm babies in arms will be the focus, I guess) and offering people like this bomber an armed escort on board and their choice of seats.

Stephanie| 12.30.09 @ 7:00AM

All the inconvenience we go through at airports has now been made a joke of.
And Appleby, I said to my husband yesterday exactly what you just said. Will this rich punks American lawyer charge the Dutchman with assult? God, what is happening?
And off topic for a moment, what the hell is wrong with our President? His waiting 3 days to speak on this event and then his being devoid of any emotion, kind of like the Ft. Hood massacre and his casual-ness. Can t his man be impeached?

WRTolkas| 12.30.09 @ 7:54AM

Dear Miss Stephanie,

This man can't be impeached for lack of compassion. However he can be marginalized by utilizing our passion at the voting booth.

Pray for a clean-sweep this November.

Happy New Year to all readers (even he who must not be named),

WRTolkas

P.S.: A few days ago didn't the anointed one state that the system is working (airline screening) before announced it was not?

R Martin| 12.30.09 @ 9:26AM

I'll tell you what is wrong with our President: he is at heart, in his very core, a Muslim sympathizer. Like the terrorists who abhor what America represents, so does Obama. The big difference is that Obama is not using violence to achieve his ends but is trying to destroy from within the traditions and culture which have made America exceptional. Fortunately, this is becoming more apparent each day, and there is some reason for optimism that his efforts will not reach fruition.

Big J| 12.30.09 @ 8:04AM

We are all responsible for our own safety and security. The Nanny State has proven once again that it is completely powerless when it comes to securing this nation.

When seconds count, the authorities are just minutes away.

Meanwhile, the wizards of smart in Washington will take away our blankets and cause us to soil ourselves during the last hour of a flight. I am certain this makes them feel safer, after all: the rules don't apply to them.

I wonder if I'll ever fly again?

Not likely.

Ret. Marine| 12.30.09 @ 8:07AM

This fact might not be known to the readers and comment makers of this forum but, the fact is the CIA was tracking this individual. Now knowing this, why were they not permitted to take action against this would be jihad junkie? Who made the decission to stand down in the ongoing investigation and why? How did they lose track of him, who ordered it? Not a threat some say, bullsheet. Profile, profile and profile some more. I'm almost sure my grandmother has no intentions of stabing some one with here knitting needles, I am equally sure a white eyed-American veterans is unlikely to go postal on his fellow countrymen/ladies, and I' darn sure if any of us have a beef, it's with the current administration of traitors to this Republic.
The problem with this pretender-n-theif of anything American is he is disconnected with the term's "terrorist", "allegded", "war on terrorism". His bull at the DHS is a wannabe somebody with a title, yet with no experience, no Military back ground, and obviously no common sense either. And to think they are the ones in charge of our security, it almost makes one want to cry, truely sad indeed.
The name American, means to me, a Patriot, a doer, a striver, hard working, God fearing, gun tooting son of another American individual with the respect of law, parents, and way of life. A person who is generous, kind and foregiving. What we have here are exampes of what can happen and who did what to prevent it, it was not the gubmint that did their jobs to satisfaction but ordinary citizens knowing where the true priorities ly.
Yes ladies and gentlemen, we are the front line, keep it in mind and do what you gotta do, regardless of the comments of the spineless bureaurats.

Sheila| 12.30.09 @ 8:47AM

Why on earth did this undie bomber choose this flight? Why wouldn't he choose something closer to DC? I mean, I get it, blow up innocents. But, seems like if you are going to kill yourself you'd really go for it.

Lullaby's, Legends and Lies| 12.30.09 @ 9:09AM

God bless these latest heroes!! Imagine what this would’ve been like on Christmas day, instead of spending time with our families enjoying the day, we would’ve all been glued to the TV, watching the horror of this plane crash in Detroit. And it would’ve taken days, if not weeks, to figure out exactly what caused this accident, that this plane was blown out of the sky by Islamic Terrorist’s, and not just some mechanical failure. And this would’ve giving these F’ing towel heads the opportunity, to duplicate this attack again, before we figured it out it wasn’t an accident to begin with.

We have got to grow a set of balls, and stop playing this politically correct bullshit anymore. If your name is Mohammad, I’ve got bad news for you Mo, it’s going to take you a lot longer to board a plane in the future, and it may be very embarrassing too. So sorry for the inconvenience to you Mo, but not I’m not really sorry!!

Galen| 12.30.09 @ 10:59AM

Woody Allen got it right in BANANAS. Allen helps a Castro type take control. The Castro type then flips and announces that from now on the national language is Swedish. Everyone must wear underwear. To prove it they must wear the
underwear over their clothes. Now we won't have to worry about Nigerian tailors.

Northern Rebel| 12.30.09 @ 11:29AM

The Anti-Christ administration has no intention of protecting Americans from terrorism. It took him 72 hours to respond to the latest attempt to kill innocent U.S. citizens, and he looked miffed and incovenienced at his press conference.

That being said, a President that was actually a patriot, could only do so much. As the saying goes, they only have to get it right once, we have to get it right every time.

It is the wild west all over again, and we are gonna have to learn to protect ourselves, as they did on 253.

God bless those heroes of flight 93, for the example they set!

My wife is adverse to firearms, yet wanted to move to the country. I had to explain to her that in the city, if you call 911, they will arrive in about 6 minutes. If you call 911 in the country environment she wanted, the police will get there just in time to identify the bodies.

I intend to make sure the bodies are not ours!

Appleby| 12.31.09 @ 7:19AM

In the City when the cops come, they will arrest YOU and let the criminals go.

If you are properly trained, the cops that show up to identify the bodies will be dragging the would-be criminals to the Eternal Dumpster.

ncatty| 12.30.09 @ 11:53AM

"It was a human and systemic failure." (And none of you will lose your jobs).

Oldefarte| 12.30.09 @ 2:00PM

It's a FACT that these private citizens are HEROES; and that our president [and his Homeland Security chief] are acting """"STUPIDLY"""" in issuing warnings about returning war vets etc being RIGHT-WING-EXTREMISTS instead of pro-actively preventing the Fort Hood massacre and the Detroit airplane bombing. These incompetent morons need to begin to simply DO THEIR JOBS in a NON-POLITICALLY CORRECT FASHION!!!!!!

Anthony| 12.30.09 @ 2:47PM

Great Moronic Quotes from the decade of the LoonyLeft:
1) The science is settled.
2) The story is true.
3) The system worked.
4) We're the ones we've been waiting for.

Tony in Central PA| 12.30.09 @ 3:24PM

I wondered if it has even dawned on this dim - bulb Administration that Obama's future as a President may well end up being determined by the plans of Islamic radicals ? If there is another large attack or even multiple smaller attacks as we have already witnessed, what is the political fallout going to be of having a lot of media facetime from people like Janet Napolitano, Eric Holder and his Oneness, equivocating about the confusing and slippery definitions of what constitutes a terrorist as far as " Man Caused Disasters " ?

Havoc| 12.31.09 @ 12:20AM

'... misinterpreting scripture to justify murder...' ? Seems as though he interpretted the scripture exactly the way it was written - and in context, too. Perhaps, the author could bone up on his islam before lecturing the rest of us.

Glen Leinbach| 12.31.09 @ 6:59PM

Major Richard Winters (ret.) of "Band of Brothers" fame quoted another Easy Company veteran. As an old man, he was asked by his grandson if he was a hero. Winter's comrade replied "No, but I served in a company of them." Thank God for the men of Easy Company, Flights 93 and 253, and the everyman American heroes like them.

Sam| 1.1.10 @ 12:37AM

Glen Leinbach,
I wish the posters before you understood this.
They seem to think this article is another invitation to bash Obama.

News Flash: WE ARE CELEBRATING HEROES!
I admit, watching Jeremy and Todd in the Flight 93 movie made me cry. To me, that represented true American spirit. In the face of adversity and odds, we overcome and do the best we can with what we have. One of the most inspiring films of ordinary heroism ever made. Add the name 'Jasper Schuringa' to the ranks of ordinary heroes.

Must you keep bringing up your hatred for Obama or can you celebrate the actions of heroes for just a few moments?

Richard Baker| 1.2.10 @ 9:18AM

The "studs" on Flights 93 and 253 show that not all men have become emasculated by PC stupidity. Remember, Norman Mineta, who was, unfortunately, the Secretary of Transportation under W, instituted most of this nonsense and refused to profile these Moslem men who perform this murderous activity because he'd been interned in WWII as a Japanese. He spoke often about losing a baseball bat in the movement and said he understood profiling. 2001 was not 1941. Ann Coulter said, and I agree, that she wished that someone would give this man a bat. The TSA/Homeland Security mess is truly a bi-partisan effort. Napolitano is just the latest governista who has no idea what they are doing. Thank God that the Todd Beamers and Jasper Schuringas of this world exist.

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