Failed Airline Bombing Was Attempted Act of Terrorism

[Jeanfromfillmore]

White House: Failed Airline Bombing Was Attempted Act of Terrorism
A male passenger on an international flight bound for Detroit Friday tried to blow up the plane with an explosive device in an incident that the White House is labeling an attempted act of terrorism.
Several people were hurt on the plane, which had Delta markings, but was listed as Northwest Flight 253. One person, possibly the suspect, was admitted to the University of Michigan Medical Center at Ann Arbor, hospital spokeswoman Tracy Justice said.
The suspect, who ABC reported suffered second-degree burns, told federal investigators he was connected to Al Qaeda, though authorities are questioning the veracity of that statement, Fox News confirmed. A federal situational awareness bulletin noted that the explosive was acquired in Yemen with instructions as to when it should be used, ABC said.
Rep. Peter King (R-NY) identified the suspect as 23-year-old Abdul Mudallah of Nigeria, and King said Mudallah "definitely has connections" to Al Qaeda.
King said Mudallah was not on any terrorism watchlist.
"This could have been catastrophic," said King, speaking to "FOX Report" Friday night. "We were lucky on this one."
White House officials confirmed Friday that the attack was an attempted act of terrorism.
"He appears to have had some kind of incendiary device he tried to ignite," said one of the U.S. officials.
Authorities initially believed the passenger had set off firecrackers that caused some minor injuries. The suspect reportedly suffered second-degree burns in the failed attempt to ignite the device.
Delta Air Lines spokeswoman Susan Elliott said the passenger was subdued immediately. She had no details on the injuries. Delta and Northwest have merged.
An FBI spokeswoman in Detroit said the incident is being investigated. It came just as the flight, an Airbus 330 carrying 278 passengers, was arriving in Detroit from Amsterdam.
Passenger Syed Jafri, a U.S. citizen who had flown from the United Arab Emirates, said the incident occurred during the plane's descent. Jafri said he was seated three rows behind the passenger and said he saw a glow, and noticed a smoke smell. Then, he said, "a young man behind me jumped on him."
"Next thing you know, there was a lot of panic," he said.
Rich Griffith, a passenger from Pontiac, said he was seated too far in the back to see what had happened. But he said he didn't mind being detained on the plane for several hours. "It's frustrating if you don't want to keep your country safe," he said. "We can't have what's going on everywhere else happening here."
President Barack Obama was notified of the incident and discussed it with security officials, the White House said. It said he is monitoring the situation and receiving regular updates from his vacation spot in Hawaii.
J.P. Karas, 55, of Wyandotte, Mich., said he was driving down a road near the airport and saw a Delta jet at the end of the runway, surrounded by police cars, an ambulance, a bus and some TV trucks.
"I don't ever recall seeing a plane on that runway ever before and I pass by there frequently," he said.
Karas said it was difficult to tell what was going on, but it looked like the front wheel was off the runway.
The Homeland Security Department said passengers may see additional screening measures on domestic and international flights because of the incident.
"We encourage those with future travel plans to stay in touch with their airline and to visit www.tsa.gov for updates," the department said.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has been briefed on the incident and is closely monitoring the situation.
The department encouraged travelers to be observant and aware of their surroundings and report any suspicious behavior to law enforcement officials.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,581153,00.html

[Kathy63]

It wasn't attempted. It was actually pretty successful. It caused the same kind of change in behavior as if the plane had actually gone down. All of the proposed security changes proposed now would not have stopped such an attack. The difference is terrorists now know this. They are better off than they were before. The proposed changes themselves are designed to cause difficulty and inconvenience to AMERICANS expanding the pool of victims.

Despite the fact that Al Quaeda in Yemen said they planned it and have 300 more at the ready. Despite the fact that the terrorist himself said he knew of 25 more british born muslims ready and able to do the same thing, despite all this, the presidebt said this was an act by a lone extremist. That tells AQ that there will be no ORGANIZED attempt to stop them. They have been assured that there will no profiling of would be bombers.

Remember way back when, the old SOS board. I said that the next major terrorist attack would come in the first year of the next president's administration no matter who was elected. I was right, this is what they do.

Terrorists throughout the middle east know that they can do whatever they want and no one is going to stop them. I would say that the next major attack will come within a very short time and only be the first of many.

[Twoller]

Originally Posted by Kathy63

....

Remember way back when, the old SOS board. I said that the next major terrorist attack would come in the first year of the next president's administration no matter who was elected. I was right, this is what they do.

Terrorists throughout the middle east know that they can do whatever they want and no one is going to stop them. I would say that the next major attack will come within a very short time and only be the first of many.

This is another good reason for our admin here to restore the database from the old SOS site.

But, remember or not, I think we can reliably guess that the discussion was around the upcoming presidential elections.

Since you presume to have had advance knowledge of these events, what do you think should be done instead to ward off the next attack? What do you think McCain would be doing instead? What is he doing now?

[Rim05]

Since you presume to have had advance knowledge of these events, what do you think should be done instead to ward off the next attack? What do you think McCain would be doing instead? What is he doing now?

Towler, these are the questions I ask and ask others to address. It is easy to blame someone for a problem, however what is a solution? I don't have an answer to that because we are into this 9 years now. None of us have political or military advisors so I just sit here in the middle while everyone thinks I and a leftie. I am a middle of the road Legal Anerican.

[Twoller]

Originally Posted by Rim05

Towler, these are the questions I ask and ask others to address. It is easy to blame someone for a problem, however what is a solution? I don't have an answer to that because we are into this 9 years now. None of us have political or military advisors so I just sit here in the middle while everyone thinks I and a leftie. I am a middle of the road Legal Anerican.

Perhaps you misunderstand my query to Kathy63. I think Obama is a rat. I don't think he is fit to defend the country from terrorism. I don't think he even cares. He hardly troubles himself to furrow his brow when confronted in public on the issue.

But I feel the same way about McCain. But McCain has better reflexes when coming to make a display about these kind of things when they happen. But McCain is no longer much of a public figure. It remains, you would think he might have something to say since he is supposed to represent the political opposition to the current adminstration.

Compare Al Gore, who is more famous for losing to Bush than he is for being Vice President.

[Rim05]

They are still questions that must be answered if we are to accomplish anything. Merely complaining accomplishes nothing. Merely marking one or two bad apples in that persons opinion does nothing. Tell me about someone who has the qualifications to be what ever he/she wants to be and let me evaluate them. I will mark the ones I know I will never vote for and then let the rest talk them selves into showing how unfit they are or how good they are.
Just for the record, I would vote for Jeff Sessions for just about any thing at this monent. Sarah Palin will NEVER get anything. Note I said at this moment for Sessions.

[Kathy63]

Originally Posted by Twoller

This is another good reason for our admin here to restore the database from the old SOS site.

But, remember or not, I think we can reliably guess that the discussion was around the upcoming presidential elections.

Since you presume to have had advance knowledge of these events, what do you think should be done instead to ward off the next attack? What do you think McCain would be doing instead? What is he doing now?

This is a really big deal and I think that you know that. McCain probably would not have ignored all of the warnings, from the CIA back in August, from the terrorists own father for crying out loud. If you remember, what I said was that the next terrorist attack would come in the first year of the new presidency no matter WHO was elected. That's what they do. There was an attack during Clinton's first year and during Bush's first year. No political party provides immunity.

I think you know the answer to your question. You just want to see if I know it.

The answer is: We can't stop terrorist attacks no matter where they occur, especially on planes. We can't because we look for bombs not bombers. We are so whipped into the ground by accusations of racisim that we are UNABLE to stop attacks. The Ft. Hood killer was well known. Despite that, everyone was terrified that THEY would be the ones getting in trouble for making the complaint. We knew all about Umar the Nigerian, his father told us for one thing. Yet, his muslim religion and black face was enough to intimidate the airport authorities into letting him on the plane without a passport.

Now airports are going to use full body scanners - on EVERYONE. Can't single out muslim men between 18 to 34 can we? No. One democratic congresswoman suggested that we look for behavioral differences. Oh YEAH. That's nothing more that profiling using different words. We all know that the behavioral differences are going to belong to muslim men between 18 and 34 yelling Allah Akbar.

The full body scanners are for domestic consumption to assure the American people that something is going to be done. It's not, terrorists have already been made aware of that. It would not have stopped the Flt. 253 attack. The scanners see under clothing. They are not x-ray machines that see within bodies. Umar had the major portion of explosives in his rectum. The detonator was concealed between his penis and scrotum. A pat down wouldn't have found the bomb. A full body scan wouldn't have found it.

Al Quaeda is always one step ahead of us and we are always looking for the last bomb. Reid had a shoe bomb, everyone takes off their shoes, the 911 terrorists had box cutters, we start confiscating nail clippers. Now we're going to start looking in clothing.

Now terrorists know EXACTLY how to avoid detection. We told them. We told them that under no circumstances would we actually start looking for bombers.

We had the young soldier killed. We had Hasan at Ft. Hood, and Flt. 253. Four police officers in Seattle were executed by the black muslim Seattle Black Footsoldiers. Let me spell it out. The attacks are becoming more frequent and closer together. Each one is treated as an isolated law enforcement incident. This gives Al Quaeda more information. They are organized. We refuse to recognize that organization. Therefore our response is not organized. Disorganization and chaos will never win against an organized and determined force.

Did you hear that idiot in the white house? This is a lone extremist! The "lone" extremist said there are 25 british muslims that trained with him. The Yemeni prime minister estimates 300 suicide bombers in training right now. Yet, the idiot says we should ignore all that and believe him when he says this is a lone extremist.

If we cannot change. If we cannot mount a credible defense, throw off political correctness and organize complete with profiling suspicious persons we have lost. Soon, probably sooner than later, our cities will become like Haifa. Only WORSE, because we will prosecute anyone who reports someone acting or appearing as if they are ready to light off. Americans will be prosecuted for various hate crimes and terrorists allowed to walk free.

McCain is not the leader of the republican party any more than Al Gore is leader of the democrats. John McCain is not immune from the slings and arrows of political correctness. He throws a few himself now and then. I do think that if John McCain were president instead of Cocaine Barry, we would be experiencing the kind of financial catastrophe we now have. No cap and tax, no universal health care, no reducing our arms and letting the Russians in to count and make sure our arsenals really are being depleted.

John McCain could not stop what's coming. No republican can, no democrat can. Not unless we put the brakes on and turn around the entire national philosophy.

[Twoller]

Originally Posted by Kathy63

....

If we cannot change. If we cannot mount a credible defense, throw off political correctness and organize complete with profiling suspicious persons we have lost. Soon, probably sooner than later, our cities will become like Haifa. Only WORSE, because we will prosecute anyone who reports someone acting or appearing as if they are ready to light off. Americans will be prosecuted for various hate crimes and terrorists allowed to walk free.

McCain is not the leader of the republican party any more than Al Gore is leader of the democrats. John McCain is not immune from the slings and arrows of political correctness. He throws a few himself now and then. I do not think that if John McCain were president instead of Cocaine Barry, we would be experiencing the kind of financial catastrophe we now have. No cap and tax, no universal health care, no reducing our arms and letting the Russians in to count and make sure our arsenals really are being depleted.

John McCain could not stop what's coming. No republican can, no democrat can. Not unless we put the brakes on and turn around the entire national philosophy.

A good part of the suggestion that McCain would have done something different can only be affirmed by observing what McCain is doing now. Which is ... what?

Yes, this country has got to confront the reality that Islamic belief is not compatible with modern open societies where religious belief is unprotected by civil authority. But Islam is not the only system of beliefs that are a threat to modern society. Catholic belief is another and it is Catholic confrontation with attempts to put it under the spotlight that has numbed non Catholic citizens everywhere to the current situation. This is the problem in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, the US and everywhere there is a traditionally non-Catholic country populated with any significant number of Catholic citizens.

[Kathy63]

Originally Posted by Twoller

A good part of the suggestion that McCain would have done something different can only be affirmed by observing what McCain is doing now. Which is ... what?

Yes, this country has got to confront the reality that Islamic belief is not compatible with modern open societies where religious belief is unprotected by civil authority. But Islam is not the only system of beliefs that are a threat to modern society. Catholic belief is another and it is Catholic confrontation with attempts to put it under the spotlight that has numbed non Catholic citizens everywhere to the current situation. This is the problem in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, the US and everywhere there is a traditionally non-Catholic country populated with any significant number of Catholic citizens.

I fail to see your point? Is Al Gore addressing international terrorisim, or Dan Quayle, or let's see, ANY serving senator? No. Of course not. John McCain will do absolutely nothing with respect to terrorist activity. Nor should he. It's not his place, he doesn't have the power. It isn't even appropriate. Now if McCain had gotten the same kind of CIA briefings in August that obamadinejad did and said nothing, that's different. But he didn't get those briefings. He wasn't supposed to.

I get kind of your point in comparing Catholicism with islam being equally destructive. Certainly that Catholic Church supports immigration both legal and illegal on the basis that God's church has no borders. I disagree with that, but then I'm not a Catholic and aren't supposed to agree with it to support my religion. I do not see Catholics gunning down police officers having breakfast, or shooting up a military base, or carrying bombs onto planes. Correct me if I'm wrong.

On the other hand, if we can shake off the destructive force of fear of being labeled a racist, political correctness and every other criminalization of social activity, we shake off what's foisted upon us by the Catholic Church as well.

[Twoller]

Originally Posted by Kathy63

I fail to see your point? Is Al Gore addressing international terrorisim, or Dan Quayle, or let's see, ANY serving senator? No. Of course not. John McCain will do absolutely nothing with respect to terrorist activity. Nor should he. It's not his place, he doesn't have the power. It isn't even appropriate. Now if McCain had gotten the same kind of CIA briefings in August that obamadinejad did and said nothing, that's different. But he didn't get those briefings. He wasn't supposed to.

....

McCain once presumed to have solutions to these problems, else he would not have tried to sell the rest of us he was fit for the office. Al Gore has taken up the cause of global warming (Whatever that is, and of course I don't think he knows or even cares, either.) and the attention he commands is based mostly on the momentum he built up running for president. McCain is in the senate and he has some kind of public recognition. He could say something. If he tries to run on the Republican ticket again, for anything, people are going to remember he just sat there after losing the election. If he has nothing now, it is easy to conclude that he never did. This would have been the end of his first year as president.

McCain's opinion on Obama's disinterest in terrorist threats is not the first thing I think of when I see these things happen, but you brought up the past.

I agree, we should be hunting bombers, not bombs. And we should be looking at those communities where these things are most likely to be coming from first. Like Muslims.