Hm.

[libertango]

OK, so an Egyptian Boeing 737 crashed yesterday, 3 Jan.

There's been lots of coverage of that here in the US.

Here're two things I just noticed that haven't gotten much play:

* Tony Blair et famille have been vacationing in Sharm al-Sheikh, the origin of the plane. This is apparently their third spin spending end-of-year holidays there.

* On 2 Jan, Blair met with King Abdullah of Jordan, also a regional ally. Easy enough to do, as Egypt's Sharm al-Sheikh, Israel's Eilat, and Jordan's Aqaba (remember Lawrence of Arabia?) are all very close together at the northern end of that arm of the Red Sea.

I told Ulrika earlier today that a plane crashing at Sharm al-Sheikh was suspicious as hell. Having Tony Blair on hand only makes it more so.

Now add to this that today, Blair has decided to emulate Capt. Kirk Dubya and visit British troops in Iraq.

{blink}

I suspect Tony Blair just dodged a bullet.

Comments

[blufive.livejournal.com]

I suspect Tony Blair just dodged a bullet.

I dunno. The plane was one of two belonging to a small charter outfit, which apparently had a less-than-stellar reputation (bad enough to get them banned from Swiss airports (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3366605.stm))

Also, if someone was after TB, why on earth would they take a crack at a plane belonging to an Egyptian charter airline?

[hal-obrien.livejournal.com]

The plane was a fully-loaded B737, just after takeoff.

Sharm al-Sheikh appears to have only five major hotels, and the one with Blair resident is presumably known.

It is within the realm of possibility that a B737 crashed against a hotel building would cause some damage.

Just how good is Egyptian charter airline security? For that matter, do you remember the Eygpt Air B767 crash of a few years ago?

I really don't know how likely this is, and the evidence as it unfolds may well disprove it. But Sharm al-Sheikh is proximate enough to Israel to be easily accessible to groups like Islamic Jihad or Hamas. There is already Palestinian resentment against the Egyptians -- recall the mob scene with the Egyptian Foreign Minister a few weeks ago in Jerusalem. Combine that with Blair being present as a target of opportunity...

As I say, I see it as a possibility.

[del-c.livejournal.com]

Blair has decided to emulate Dubya and visit British troops in Iraq.

Don't you mean Dubya emulated Blair? Tony was in Basra in May; this is his second trip.

I think the crash is just a tragic coincidence, and if it isn't then the targets were more likely to be random western holidaymakers than the prime minister.

[hal-obrien.livejournal.com]

"Don't you mean Dubya emulated Blair? Tony was in Basra in May; this is his second trip."

I've since seen references his earlier May 29th trip, yes.

However, Blair's visit at that time was part of a larger visit to the Gulf. This one was more along the lines of Bush's surprise, in that no one was really thinking Blair would go too far afield from Sharm al-Sheikh.