> Do 'we' in fact know any of that? Are there any witnesses
> to substantiate her version of events?
Seemingly the very same trap I 've been so diligent to have others avoid, although I'm prepared to offer an explanation of sorts (obviously the insertion of a "may have been" or an "alleged" might have been appropriate there, which was exactly my thought as I reread my message as it dropped in my inbox).
One's confidence in the veracity of the other events is based on a charitable and perhaps intuitive reading of Oden's statements, on the assumption that while her claim to have been "targeted" is solely based on her own (seemingly) unfounded speculation, the other things that occurred during the incident she relates are subject to some measure of verification and corroboration (or denial) by the other parties involved, hence she'd potentially be caught in a very public lie were she to invent statements and actions out of thin air and reproduce them in a press release. And how dumb would that be?
But other than the airline official dismissing her claim to have been targeted (which one obviously takes with a giant grain of salt, since he's in no position to confirm or deny any funny business on the part of the FBI), it doesn't appear the substance of Oden's description as to what took place has even been addressed - i.e., "he yells over at me... 'Bring your bags over here'" - etc. If anyone's seen anything, feel free to post a link.
And in any case it's dumb enough to make wild assertions about targeting where evidence for same doesn't exist, as one risks the credibility of the entire movement, leaving thousands of other activists open to derision solely based on association. I'm still prepared to believe that, rather than out-and-out treachery for personal aggrandisement or the appeals of secular martyrdom, it's more a case of garden-variety ignorance or ineptitude. But how could a number of people suffer from the same malady and let that press release slip out?
Possibly for the same reason that people like Mitchel Cohen, in the defense piece that Tom Wheeler forwarded, said, "In fact, Oden was targeted as soon as she gave her name to pick up her ticket. She was told this was NOT a random procedure." Well, exactly - "random" would be picking any passenger out of the lobby for testing, whereas Oden *was* selected based on criteria of some kind. So of course it was not "random" in her case, but we still have no idea whatsoever what those criteria were - she was a Green, she bought her ticket over the internet, she habitually wears red socks, etc. And that's the issue here.
But maybe I am being too charitable after all. (And meanwhile, in Afghanistan...)
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/ dave /