Well I am not going to claim i know everything.ok so who does. but i dont think that they were being harrassed becouse they were french, I am sure customs had good reason to do what they did, as i dont see any charges being held, well not yet anyway. but if they would not have gotten them and they were a bunch of terraists and they blew up e3 convention then customs would again be the brunt of all the critisism. as WHY DIDNT THEY DO SOMETHING? why didnt customs catch them? why isnt the goverment doing anything about this, this is tragic. bla bla. i think after 3000 + people are killed becouse of airplanes crashing through thier window and a full fledge war, and war against treeroism i think we should be a little jumpy! as we are in orange alert again. Anyway i think that everyone goes to far and points the finger way to quick. if they had a valid reason to do what they did then fine. i would rather see some camera men (french or whatever nationality) be ruffed up and a bit inconvienianced , then to see E3 blown into little computer bits. wouldnt you? give customs a break! everyone has a job to do.

I'm willing to agree with you to some extent.

But lets not generalise here:

- These guys were French citizens and I cannot and will not believe that all 6 of them happened to be extreme muslim fundamentalists -> in that case they wouldn't be released anyway.

- we had to take of our shoes to pass through security. And we didn't mind. But hiding a bomb up your arse ? Come on...
And journalists make their money with their jobs, not by smuggling petty amounts of drugs.

- why were they sent back ? Customs did a 'thorough' search on (and 'in') them. Did they 'find' a reason to repatriate all 6 of them ?

- why weren't the customs people 'jumpy' towards the rest of the journalists on those flights (e.g. myself and my 2 colleagues) ?

Were they 'just doing their job' ?
Come on... who are we kidding ?

I understand that, iand agree but if they were tipped off for what ever reason then do0ing their duty would be to investigate. now if this was some custom guy that said he you you look suspicious and then put them through that well i would agree then it is not a good system, but i will not believe that they were just piced becouse they were french, i believe they were tipped off , by who? intelligence? or the guy on the corner? i dont know. but the question is is they had no idea who they were? so they prolly got tipped off some how. like i said i have no idea and we may never know why they chose them, other than if people make a big deal and then they have to prove why they did it.
Now i agree with you all theyway but we must look on bothsides of the picture. We live in america, we have freedom of choice and speech, we are a free society, and this is why people are worried about the french, and why there needs to be an investigation i hope that if there is some unfainess due for them they should get it...but now days. we need to be on our toes. becouse if we are not. well all i can say is if something happpens every one always points the finger at the goverment....we hate them..but in reality we need them.

ok enouph spouting here, all i really mean to say is for ev eryone to take a deep breath. and try not to cry wolf. Customs is doomed if they do doomed if they dont...but thats what America is. and how scandles are found out. i hope there is no more casulties from customs but like in war. it is inevitable. and right now we are in a war. wether we like to admit it or not.

haha, whats wrong with having the customs having a laugh. I bet the frencies screamed like piggies ;)

just kidding, If there truly was no reason for there investigation no doubt those dudes will be sued in the next couple of days.

to be honest, i like the french much more then the Belgians, at least they say hi when you meet them on the street. Here they always seem afraid that you might try to rob them.
They are just proud to be french, whats wrong with that?

The French are frogs. I have to work with Frenchies and if you want something done, it takes 25000 signatures for approval and after that they'll just start discussing again.
They talk a lot, but working ? Hell no !
Lazy bastards.

right, maby thats why i love them :o

comments are to big to read but imo we have no indication whatsoever why they were send back.