Potential Targets for a Weaponized Malaysian Jetliner

Two full weeks after Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 (MH370) mysteriously vanished en route from Kuala Lampur to Beijing, the conspiracy theories over what happened have gotten wilder and wilder. One pundit said they were hit by a meteor. Another says they were abducted by a UFO. The best ones yet swear the US stole the plane and took it to their base on the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. (here and here) and that this was part of a botched US attack on China.

YouTube viewers with bugger-all else to do have latched onto Pitbull and Shakira's 2012 song "Get It Started" and claim it may reveal what was going to happen to the plane. The song includes the lyrics: “Now it's off to Malaysia." along with “Two passports, three cities, two countries, one day.”

According to these Internet Geniuses the two passports refer to two men using stolen passports to get on the plane, the three cities being Kuala Lumpur, Beijing and Hanoi and the two countries being Malaysia and Vietnam. My God, people. Get real. Put down the bath salts.

The news sites clog my phone almost hourly with report after report of alleged debris being spotted by satellite and then reports that searchers found nothing. The constant backpedaling by Malaysian officials and the lack of anything concrete has even started to give rise to various memes online.

Well, last week I sort of scooped most of the mainstream media by being among the early people to theorize that the still-missing plane didn't just crash, but more rather was deliberately taken by the crew as part of a nefarious plot. I theorized the aircrew, being exceedingly experienced, was in on it. I theorized that the passengers were dealt with via depressurization and hypoxia. I theorized they went below the radar and went for an improvised airfield or forward operating base with a short runway. All of these are being talked about openly by all the alleged experts in the field now.

I also theorized the plane was being repainted and fitted out to be used as a weapon. Others are backing my theory. But of course the next question has to be "What will the target be?"

The fact that nothing has happened yet in the almost 2 weeks since the jet went missing can mean a couple of things. One of them is that they (and by "they/them" I mean the Bad Guys) could be biding their time until all the hubris dies down and the media attention gets focused on the next shiny object that catches their fickle attentions and the general populace relaxes their guard before they act. Right now with half the known world to include Courtney Love looking for this plane it may be more prudent to lie low.

Yeah, you know things are bad when Courtney Love is your celebrity spokes-lunatic.

So many targets to choose from...

The other thing it could mean is that we all figured things out so fast that they simply can't act right now and their intended target is impossible to hit right now. But what could the intended target be?

1. ISRAEL
The obvious choice. Islamoterrorists spew forth rhetoric on a near daily basis about burning Israel to the ground and driving the ashes into the sea. The problem is, the choice is simply too obvious. Israel is always on alert. If they had been around in 1478, they would have actually expected the Spanish Inquisition. They're ready at the trigger and expecting to be attacked by a weaponized MH370. If not shot down by IAF fighters enroute, their Iron Dome missiles are ready to intercept.

2. KUWAIT
We don't have a lot in Kuwait these days compared to years past but being that it's not an obvious high-profile target and the Kuwaitis are very tight with us could make it an attractive target of opportunity. We still stage troops there as they enter and leave the theater of operations. We train there. We're planning to maintain about 13,500 troops there as a contingency.

3. DIEGO GARCIA
The aforementioned Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean is a juicy target indeed. The airfield there has been used as a launching point for bomber strikes against the Taliban.The Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia provides Base Operating Services to tenant commands located on the island. The command's mission is "To provide logistic support to operational forces forward deployed to the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf AORs in support of national policy objectives."
As of January 2012, the facility supported the following tenant commands:

    Maritime Pre-Positioning Ships Squadron TWO
    Branch Health Clinic
    Naval Computer And Telecommunications Station Far East Detachment Diego Garcia
    Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Detachment
    Naval Media Center Detachment Diego Garcia
    Military Sealift Command Office Diego Garcia
    Mission Support Facility
    Fleet Logistics Center Diego Garcia
    NAVFAC FE
    36 MSG Pacific Air Force
    Det 1, 715th AMOG (AMC)
    AFSPC Det 2, 22nd Space Operations Squadron (ARTS & GPS)
    AFSPC Det 2, 18th Space Surveillance Squadron (GEODSS)

Additionally, the USS Emory S. Land (AS-39) is forward deployed to Diego Garcia. She's a submarine tender.

In plain English, you have an airfield, air transport assets, a lot of surveillance assets, and a port facility, including enough ships & pre-positioned equipment to supply a Marine Corps Expeditionary Unit for 30 days in a combat zone. The problem with using a weaponized 777 to attack it? Hundreds and hundreds of miles of open ocean where our military radars could see it coming. Chances are we've sent some fighter coverage there as an insurance policy.

Diego Garcia from the air

Main runway approach to Diego Garcia

B-1 bombers and KC-135 tankers at Diego Garcia

 

USS Emory S. Land

USS Florida at Diego Garcia, outfitted for working with SEALs. Prime target much?

4. DUBAI
Dubai has had close ties with the US military for a long time, and is a fairly progressive pro-Western nation. Dubai is the home of Emirates Air, the largest user of Boeing 777's. If you wanted to hit a high profile target this is pretty juicy, and you have about 145 planes you can disguise it as.

Oh, snap. Look at all those 777's from Emirates Air parked in Dubai...

5. ABU DHABI
Right next door to Dubai, and as one of the United Arab Emirates, also conveniently served by Emirates Air.
Al Dhafra Air Base is located about an hour outside of Abu Dhabi, and currently hosts the 763d Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron. The 763rd conducts in-flight refueling missions throughout Southwest Asia in support of Operation Southern Watch, a coalition force tasked to monitor United Nations Security Council resolutions restricting air and ground operations in Southern Iraq. The Air Force operates KC-10 refueling planes which are involved in sustaining US warplanes covering the southern no-flight zone over Iraq.

6. BAHRAIN
Naval Support Activity Bahrain (or NSA Bahrain) is a US Navy base, situated in the Kingdom of Bahrain and is home to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and United States Fifth Fleet. It is the primary base in the region for the naval and marine activities in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and formerly Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), to include when the latter was changed to Operation New Dawn (OND) until the end of the Iraq War. A former installation of the Royal Navy, it was transferred to the U.S. government in 1971. The commander of Navy Region Southwest Asia is responsible for NSA Bahrain and Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti. Navy Region Southwest Asia falls under the oversight of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (COMUSNAVCENT). Vice Admiral John W. Miller, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and United States Fifth Fleet.

7. DJIBOUTI
Camp Lemonnier is a United States Naval Expeditionary Base, situated at Djibouti's Djibouti-Ambouli International Airport and home to the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) of the U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM). The camp is operated by U.S. Navy Region Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia; CJTF-HOA is the most notable tenant command located at the facility as of 2008. It was established as the primary base in the region for the support of Operation Enduring Freedom - Horn of Africa (OEF-HOA). After negotiations between March and May 2001, the Djiboutian government allowed for the base's use by the U.S., providing for demining, humanitarian, and counter-terrorism efforts, and it now serves as the location from which U.S. and Coalition forces are operating in the Horn of Africa. The access agreement made by officials from the U.S. Embassy in Djibouti with the Djiboutian government allows for use of the camp, as well as a nearby airport and port facilities.amp Lemonnier is operated by Commander, Navy Region Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia, which is responsible for its expansion, upkeep, and logistics support. Tenant units include the U.S. Marine Security Forces which provides the camp's external security, the CJTF-HOA commander and staff, a U.S. Navy Seabee battalion which conducts water-well drilling operations, U.S. Army units which provide additional security, military training, and Civil-military operations support, and several aircraft detachments.\Aircraft detachments include a U.S. Marine heavy-lift helicopter (CH-53) detachment, a U.S. Navy P-3 detachment (technically a part of the US Navy's 6th Fleet - Commander Task Force 67), and the U.S. Air Force's 449th Air Expeditionary Group. USAF detachments include a USAF HC-130 detachment, and, at times, a C-17 Globemaster III detachment.

In my humble opinion, this is strategically the target of choice. Camp Lemonnier is the thorn in Islam's grubby paw. From here launched many of the the drone strikes knocking off your terror scumbags in Yemen and Somalia. There's a staging area for special operations forces there. But then again, terrorists don't think strategically. They tend to think in terms of making a big showy splash and political statement, and that means the juiciest target out there is.... Qatar.

Welcome back, Qatar...

8. QATAR
Why Qatar? Al Udeid Air Base west of Doha, also known as Abu Nakhlah Airport, serves as a logistics, command, and basing hub for U.S. operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Nearby Camp As Sayliyah houses significant U.S. military equipment prepositioning and command facilities for the CENTCOM area of operations, as well as a key Theater Rest and Relaxation Program for deployed soldiers. Al Udeid Air Base houses foreign coalition personnel and assets, hosting a forward headquarters of United States Central Command, headquarters of United States Air Forces Central, No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group RAF, and the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing of the USAF. In lieu of hitting the main CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa at MacDill AFB, this is the next best thing, the local head of the snake biting Allah's ass. Or you take out the R&R facility full of relaxing infidel crusaders playing golf and tennis. It's just across the Persian Gulf from the the UAE so once again, Emirates Air is a regular sight in the area.

Like I've said before, I'm not an intelligence analyst. Yes, I'm an Army veteran, but over 20 years removed from active duty. However, I think outside the box and between the lines. I think like I was in Intel; question everything and take nothing for granted. If indeed the missing 777 has been taken to be used later on as a flying bomb, these targets make the most sense in my view and I dearly hope our security at these locations has been stepped up accordingly. Meanwhile, there are 200+ families who want closure.  I'd like nothing more than for this plane to land safely somewhere, and everyone aboard walks off telling a fantastic story of the planet or time zone or dimension they've been in for two weeks. I'm probably wrong. But I said that 2 weeks ago too when I came up with my initial theories too....

It beats Courtney Love, Pitbull, Shakira, and aliens.

Yeah, right.