Janet Napolitano says the system worked. No, we were brave and lucky.
A U.S. government that has barred the phrase “war on terror” has nonetheless acknowledged that a failed Christmas day bomb attack on an airliner was a terrorist attempt. Can we all now drop the pretense that we stopped fighting a war once Dick Cheney and George W. Bush left the White House?
Instead of body scanners and ethnic profiling we need patience and resilience to tackle terrorism
Not long after the attacks of 11 September 2001, I went to hear the Arab-American stand-up comedian Ahmed Ahmed riff on the perils of airport security. “All you white people have it easy,” he joked with the crowd. “You guys get to the airport like an hour, two hours before your flight. It takes me a month and a half.”
Editor’s note: Fareed Zakaria is an author and foreign affairs analyst who hosts “Fareed Zakaria GPS” on CNN U.S. on Sundays at 1 and 5 p.m. ET and CNN International 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. CET / 5 p.m. Abu Dhabi / 9 p.m. HK
New York (CNN) — In the wake of the failed Christmas Day airplane bombing, President Obama ordered speedy reviews of how the air security system failed and the Transportation Security Administration began enhanced screening for passengers traveling through 14 nations.
A dangerous explosive allegedly concealed by Nigerian student Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in his underwear could have blown a hole in the side of his Detroit-bound aircraft if it had been detonated, according to two federal sources briefed on the investigation. Authorities said they are still analyzing a badly damaged syringe that Abdulmutallab allegedly employed as a detonating device on Christmas Day. But preliminary conclusions indicate that he allegedly used 80 grams of PETN — almost twice as much of the highly explosive material as used by convicted shoe bomber Richard C. Reid.
Despite the billions spent since 2001 on intelligence and counterterrorism programs, sophisticated airport scanners and elaborate watch lists, it was something simpler that averted disaster on a Christmas Day flight to Detroit: alert and courageous passengers and crew members.
During 19 hours of travel, aboard two flights across three continents, law enforcement officials said, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab bided his time. Then, just as Northwest Flight 253 finally began its final approach to Detroit around noon on Friday, he tried to ignite the incendiary powder mixture he had taped to his leg, they said.
Screening Machines May Need to Be Replaced; Al Qaeda Aware of ‘Achilles heel’
Officials now say tragedy was only averted on Northwest flight 253 because a makeshift detonator failed to work properly. Bomb experts say there was more than enough explosive to bring down the Northwest jet, which had nearly 300 people aboard, had the detonator not failed, and the nation’s outdated airport screening machines may need to be upgraded.
“We’ve known for a long time that this is possible,” said Richard Clarke, former counterterrorism czar and ABC News consultant, “and that we really have to replace our scanning devices with more modern systems.”
Officials Say Bomb Materials Sewn Into Suspect’s Underwear by Top Terror Bomb Maker
The plot to blow up an American passenger jet over Detroit was organized and launched by al Qaeda leaders in Yemen who apparently sewed bomb materials into the suspect’s underwear before sending him on his mission, federal authorities tell ABC News. nvestigators say the suspect had more than 80 grams of PETN, a compound related to nitro-glycerin used by the military. The so-called shoe bomber, Richard Reid, had only about 50 grams kin his failed attempt in 2001 to blow up a U.S.-bound jet. Yesterday’s bomb failed because the detonator may have been too small or was not in “proper contact” with the explosive material, investigators told ABC News.
The underwear bomber shows how extremists will find new ways to beat airport security
The attack on a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day appears to be the latest twist in a form of terrorism that has been evolving ever since the 9/11 atrocity.
Since the twin towers of New York were destroyed in 2001, terrorists have tried to stay one step ahead of airline security in finding ways to destroy planes, from hiding bombs in their shoes — or, as last week, in their underwear — to carrying them inside their bodies.
Who is Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab? Federal authorities say the man suspected of trying to detonate explosives on Northwest Flight 253 as it neared Detroit was a 23-year-old engineering student at University College London. They say he is a Nigerian citizen and he has reportedly said he was on a mission for al-Qaeda and that he had received instructions from Yemen. On Saturday, Abdulmutallab was charged with attempting to destroy the aircraft and with placing a destructive device on the plane.
WASHINGTON ? The alleged Christmas Day terrorist had been in one of the U.S. government‘s many terror databases since November, which is when his father brought him to the attention of embassy officials in Nigeria.
However, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab came to the attention of intelligence officials months before that, according to a U.S. government official involved in the investigation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because it is ongoing.
Loading ...