Have the authorities been purposely lying to the American and world public with regard to the man arrested for the attempted bombing, Christmas Day, of Northwest Flight 253?
First, the man’s own father brought Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian who attended the University College in London for engineering, to the attention of authorities, saying he suspected his son was a terrorist. Then AFA was on a watch list but — apparently — not quite the “right” watch list. Then there were messages provided to authorities to be on the lookout for a man just like this performing an act similar to this.
And is there a third man involved?
What is real? What can you trust? Whom do you trust?
It is my affirmed belief that you, the American public, are being purposely kept in the dark with regard to very clear, specific and overt attempts made to inflict another wound on the carapace of the United States. Besides being a so-called “target-rich environment” for Islamists, this nation is in the throes of economic and societal chaos. Add another large, successful terrorist attack and what would you have?
I’m confident you can do the math.
ADDITIONALLY:
This begs the question of better airport screening. And, when you think about it, airport screening really is the last line of defense against terrorism in the air. You are now putting your life, literally, at the last possible moment, in the hands of persons whose training is what I might term “less than stellar.” Ahem.
But why do we place so much emphasis on this point in the process? Is it because we are incompetent at file sharing? Because we can’t make one system or one agency or agencies talk to each other? Or, as I suspect, is it because we still refuse to admit that there are persons from specific countries, areas, of certain nationalities or religions, that purposely should be scrutinized under a microscope before they enter this country, much less one of our aircraft?
Your 91-year-old grandmother is not a terrorist. Teddy Kennedy was not a terrorist. My father was not a terrorist. Yet all of these people and more were shunted aside for specific and intrusive searches by machines and persons before boarding American aircraft on what was termed “random” searches so as not to appear oppressive or specific in their targeting.
People are already tired of taking off their shoes, taking off their belts, being unable to even pack a shave or hygiene kit. The FAA and TSA and other alphabet agencies are telling passengers in a thin aluminum tube when they can or cannot piss, when they can or cannot have a bowel movement, and — now — that passengers have to remain seated with trays up and nothing in their laps for the last hour of flight. No. I’m not joking.
How long is it going to be before Americans say: “Me, flying? Uh, no thanks.”
Hey, how about this, my American government: how about you do your damned jobs BEFORE you let people on planes?
My, now there’s a concept.
How about you have every fucking agency talk to every other? How about you actually share information instead of becoming information HOARDERS? How about you even delete some agencies and centralize duties, programs, personnel, orders and missions?
But no; we’re still not ready for that. The American government and the American public have collective memories of a few days at best. I’ve called it “Historical Alzheimers.” And, as poet and philosopher George Santayana once said: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Apparently, we are all condemned to another 9/11-type event in this country.
Believe it.
BZ
The second man, according to the Detroit Free Press, was arrested on immigration violations regarding an improper visa and was not part of the plot. The “third man” has not been corroborated by anyone other than the lawyer. Even his wife said she did not see him as she was distracted with their card game. There could be some credence to that, but airline officials say he had a valid Nigerian Passport. Also, in today’s Free Press the TSA had announced that people from 14 different countries (most of them Muslim nations in the Mideast and Africa) are going to get the enhanced screening from now on, so at least part of your wish is granted. Cuba is also on that list of countries (?)
I’ll be fly 3-4 times in the next two months and am not worried. I thought it was rediculous that they want you not to use the john and “take away your blankey” when this is clearly a SNAFU by the CIA and the State Dept. for not flagging this guy for the NO FLY list.
Yemen has become the start-up haven for al Qaeda ever since the country re-united post-Cold War. The USS Cole bombing was in Aden, Yemen and by that point the rural Muslims already had their connections to the Saudi al Qaeda backers. Prior to the 1990-91 Gulf War Kuwait had been seeing radical Yemenis coming into the country joining up with an Iranian backed Hezbollah off-shoot. After that the Kuwaitis had to start dealing with the al Qaeda backed Yemenis. Nigeria has seen an influx of backing for Wahhabi Imams with links to groups in Chad and the Sudan, but this guy was a college educated man in the UK living in a damned good apartment there, so we have a difference in the sort of individuals being recruited.
As was noted for the bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, USS Cole and 9/11 al Qaeda uses two types of operatives: technically skilled individual and ‘brawn’. Yemen, by being a backwater and having deep societal divisions is a great concentration point for both kinds of individuals. The Cole mastermind was set free by Yemen and a few Gitmo releasees have found there way there, too.
It is good that the Obama Administration wants to have a Counter-Terror unit to cover the area, and do some Predator hits, but that smacks of Clintonian lack of resolve and can be prone to back-firing or even used as propaganda when you miss.
Of further worry is that Somalia is seeing the Islamic Courts Union return after a nice hiatus in KSA, which should be making the firm and hard point that Saudi cash is backing al Qaeda to this day. When Saudi cash shows up in Nigeria, Argentina, Trinidad & Tobago, Mexico, Indonesia, Pakistan, Chechnya, Georgia, Kosovo… all backing radical clerics and having ties to al Qaeda, one begins to suspect that this shadow boxing with affiliates, off-shoots and others funded by KSA is not hitting the problem: Saudi Arabia.
KSA is money rich due to oil, people poor and relatively skill-free, importing skilled labor they don’t want to dirty their hands with. Like killing foreigners for their State suported religion. That is a bit like how the Ottoman’s got things done through the Barbary Coast for a century or so. Plugging up those being paid to wage Private War under their religion is necessary. Cutting off their cash support is essential. Ending all support for them via Nation States is goal. That might put the global oil market in bad straights for a decade or so go after the support directly… things are tough all over, you know?
You can pay in blood and money now, or in blood later, but in blood we shall all pay. KSA is waging a lovely proxy war via Private Means… they should be reminded that can get you Public War via Public means. So far neither D or R party wants to tighten any of those screws and raise that pain threshold for doing so.
I don’t like war.
I do wish others wouldn’t wage it on us.
Tim: now here we agree. The bulk of the job should be done on the intel end, not at the last damned possible second at the very threshold to a goal.
AJ: people should know, KSA stands for Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And yes, KSA has been playing both ends against the middle, balancing rather precariously, for many years. They love their western decadence, western money, western Rolls and Bentleys and Veyrons.
I don’t like war either. This has gone on TOO long. You either fight to WIN or you do not fight. Bush went in; fine. But he had no goals and now it’s a quadmire that NO ONE in government will let us WIN.
What does a WIN “look like”? It looks like a completely leveled capitol city. And then bounce the rubble once again for good measure. That’s how we should have followed up 9/11.
BZ
You can thank Cheney for secretly releasing those who trained this bomber from Gitmo.
Apparently, we are all condemned to another 9/11-type event in this country.
If that happens, the numbers of American killed will pale in comparison to 9/11, IMO.
Jacksonian is exactly right:
Yemen has become the start-up haven for al Qaeda ever since the country re-united post-Cold War.
Dr. Walid Phares has said for a long time that Africa will play a prominent role in jihad against the West. He warns, “Don’t focus just on the Middle East” (paraphrase).
AOW – Somalia, Chad, Kenya, Nigeria… all are getting KSA and al Qaeda ‘help’.
What really gets me is that people forget that bin Laden spent a few years in Egypt with his Muslim Brotherhood supporters. The MB is a direct start-up of KSA starting in the late ’50s when they funneled money to Wahhabi student groups. Now MB backs HAMAS, al Qaeda, whatever Turabi is doing in Sudan these days, and lovely groups in the US, like ISNA.
So when we hear of US recruits going for training in Yemen, Somalia, or any other of the holdings that KSA supports either directly or through al Qaeda or MB. When Mr. Z asked me about what Rep. Hoyer’s purpose was in meeting with MB I pointed out how MB is the major interconnect group for KSA. Why would any sane member of the House want to give any legitimacy to that group?
I didn’t care for Clinton’s missing the ball, Bush not putting any of his contacts to work, and now we get a guy who wants to say sweet nothings to people with blood on their hands. This goes back at least two decades and isn’t getting any better no matter which party is elected to office. Partisanship can go to hell, this is survival.
totally off topic…Why would they want to make flying unappealing? Well, that little get together in Denmark last month wanted to limit carbon, which air travel emits a lot of. The statist humps didn’t get what they wanted through law, so let us use the threat of attack to make air travel as uncomfortable as possible. That way we can kill the industry for the “commoners”, while not effecting the G5 jetset in anyway for “important” people. Like Al Gore.
“Hubba, hubba hubba, who do you trust?”
The Joker, in Batman.
And what’s changed?