Airline Passenger Attempts to Light 'Substance' In-Flight

[mojaveman]

Originally Posted by Rangertab1

I would buy the entire flight just to sit next to Big Teddy...............naked and snoring.

I'm a little worried about that image RT.

When all else fails.....

[T-Rock]

And MAJ Nidal Hasan.

All self-radicalized lonely young men, incited by hate.

The Muslim community has a cancer. Spending billions on TSA and redundant layers of security is not going to cure the problem.

What was this key ingredient that caused "self-radicalization" you may ask - Surely it couldn't have been the Qur'an or Islam - it must have been Anwar al Awlaki...

But of course, it is better to attribute any form of violence undertaken by muslims to be - "self-radicalization", a manifestation of mental health issues instead of being symptomatic of Islamic yearnings - leaving the American public stupified.

[6.8SPC_DUMP]

Screening Machines May Need To Be Replaced... (Medal detectors not effective?)


FWIW I'd rather fly with some terrorist risk then w/o boxers. Small johnson jokes incomming...

[G]

The idiotic knee-jerk response never fails to amuse and amaze:

The guy went to the bathroom to get himself organised in the last hour of the flight, so now people on flights into the US can't get up for the last hour? What happens when the next guy makes his attempt in the first hour? Or the second? Or the 8th?

I can see it now: Passengers banned from getting up for the entire flight; bottles to pee into $2.50, available on all flights!

?????

G

[LongWire]

Good article from the American Thinker
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/...ople_acco.html

December 26, 2009
What About Holding People Accountable?
Clarice Feldman
The U.S. Transportation Safety Administration has responded to the aborted bombing of a NW Airlines plane in Detroit with its usual inanity: make the passengers suffer more, in this case by forcing inbound international flight passengers to remain seated a full hour before planes are due to land. As the attempted bomber was sitting at the time of the event, it is hard to imagine what, if anything, TSA is thinking of, except perhaps that passengers are stupid enough to continue to believe such measures provide any security at all.

I have another idea: Let's start holding people in the responsible bureaucracies accountable for their negligence.

As the events are uncovered it appears we knew for at least 6 months that this man was a security threat. His father said he told the U.S. Embassy officials in Nigeria that his son was a threat and should be banned from entering the US.

And our response? His name on the passenger manifest was cleared for entry:

American security agencies reviewed the passenger list for Northwest Airlines flight 253 before it left Amsterdam for Detroit on Christmas day and informed the airline that the flight was cleared to take off for the U.S., a Dutch government spokeswoman tells NEWSWEEK.

Judith Sluyter, spokeswoman for the NCTB, the office of Holland's national counter-terrorism coordinator, said that before Flight 253 left Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, the passenger list was transmitted in full to U.S. authorities for review. Under procedures negotiated between the United States and various foreign countries, U.S. agencies -- particularly an interagency "Terrorist Screening Center" run by the FBI with input from others including the Homeland Security Department and the intelligence community -- are supposed to run the names through American counter-terrorism databases to see if any would-be passengers present potential threat.
In the case of Flight 253, U.S. authorities informed the airline before the flight took off that the passenger list did not reveal any threats which would prevent the plane from taking off, according to Sluyter, and so the flight left Amsterdam for Detroit.

We fired no one for 9/11. We fired no one for Ft. Hood. If no one is fired for this snafu and instead citizens are instead put to even more pointless inconvenience, heads higher up than these ought to roll.

Update:

I am not the only person shaking my head at the thought this man was issued a visitor's visa. A thorough investigation is called for. From the UK Independent:


The revelation of Abdulmutallab's background has confounded terror experts. Dr Magnus Ranstorp of the Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defence College, said that the attempted bombing "didn't square".
"On the one hand, it seems he's been on the terror watch list but not on the no-fly list," he said. "That doesn't square because the American Department for Homeland Security has pretty stringent data-mining capability. I don't understand how he had a valid visa if he was known on the terror watch list. [snip]
A source said Dr Mutallab was "devastated" at the news but also "surprised" his son had been allowed to travel after he had reported him to the authorities. Abdulmutallab had allegedly become noted for his extreme religious views when he was at the British International School in Togo, where he is said to have preached Islam to his friends.
An official briefing on the attack said the US had known for at least two years that the suspect could have terrorist ties. Abdulmutallab has been on a list that included people with known or suspected contacts or ties to a terrorist or terrorist organisation. The list is maintained by the US National Counterterrorism Center and includes about 550,000 names.

[Pete]

Wealthy, quiet, unassuming: the Christmas Day bomb suspect

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...t-1851090.html

The inside story of the privileged student who embraced al-Qa'ida and tried to blow a transatlantic jet out of the sky - and the lessons for us all

By Andrew Johnson and Emily Dugan


"......Abdulmutallab, 23, had lived a gilded life, and, for the three years he studied in London, he stayed in a £2m flat. He was from a very different background to many of the other al-Qa'ida recruits who opt for martyrdom.

The charges were read out to him by US District Judge Paul Borman in a conference room at the medical centre where he is receiving treatment for burns. Agents brought Abdulmutallab, who had a blanket over his lap and was wearing a green hospital robe, into the room in a wheelchair.

Abdulmutallab's father, Umaru, is the former economics minister of Nigeria. He retired earlier this month as the chairman of the First Bank of Nigeria but is still on the boards of several of Nigeria's biggest firms, including Jaiz International, a holding company for the Islamic Bank. The 70-year-old, who was also educated in London, holds the Commander of the Order of the Niger as well as the Italian Order of Merit.

Dr Mutallab said he was planning to meet with police in Nigeria last night after realising his son had joined the notorious roster of al-Qa'ida terrorists, and is said to have warned the US authorities about his son's extreme views six months ago..............."

Just the typical crazy person these days

[Richard]

Daily Trust - daily newspaper published in the nation's capital, Abuja.

Richard

Faruk: Profile of a rebellious son
Abubakar A. Ibrahim, ST, 27 Dec 2009

Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab is the son of retired First Bank chief, Dr Umaru Abdulmutallab, who hails from Katsina State. Though information on the would- be bomber is still sketchy, Sunday Trust gathered that he was born in 1986. He spent most of his formative years outside Nigeria and can best be described as British-educated.

He had his secondary education at British School of Lome, Togo, a school established 25 years ago to cater for the needs of British expatriates in the West African country. The school currently has students from about 37 different countries and caters for students between ages 3-18. While there, Abdul Mutallab became known for his radical views.

After graduation, he relocated to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. His radical tendencies took another dimension and became increasingly disturbing to his parents who tried to call him to order, according to family sources. He was admitted into the University College, London in 2005 as a student of Mechanical engineering, a programme that would have ended June, 2008.

His father, Dr Umaru Abdulmutallab had reported his son as a security threat to both US and Nigerian security agencies several months ago and the US had him on a security list though he was not considered a serious risk and was not placed on a ‘no flight list.’

Early reports have linked him to Alqaeda but US security agents have cautioned against this claims, saying though he has terrorist tendencies, he is not known to be affiliated to any terror group.

Abdulmutallab is from a very rich, polygamous family. His father, recently retired as Chairman of First Bank , one of the country’s biggest banks and is currently heading the soon-to-take-off Jaiz Bank.

It has not been determined where or how Abdulmutallib picked up his extremist views, it is known that he has spent more years outside Nigeria than in it. He admitted being trained for a month as a suicide bomber in Yemen. Details about him remain sketchy as all websites or blogs with information about him have been blocked. Already, some sites that contained his image have been rigged with virus by unknown parties.

His last known address is a four million pounds house in Central London, where Metropolitan Police have been conducting investigations.

http://www.sunday.dailytrust.com/ind...news&Itemid=26

Nigerian in attempted bomb saga on us plane - We Became Worried About Faruk 2 Months Ago -Family
Abubakar A. Ibrahim, ST, 27 Dec 2009

Until about two months ago, the family of the alleged American airline bomber, Faruk Abdul Mutallib, said he was just a devoted Muslim youth who was concerned about his religious duties in addition to his regular studies.

The young man had earlier graduated with a degree in Engineering from the University College, London, and was due to complete his Master in Business Administration from a Dubai-based university this month.

Investigations by Sunday Trust revealed that his parents who had agreed for him to do a summer course in Arabic in Yemen from around August this year sensed trouble when he suddenly called to say that he was no longer interested in completing his MBA and instead is staying on in Yemen for the next seven years for an unclear field of study.

The signs became even more ominous when he later sent a text message seeking his parents’ forgiveness and suggesting that he was going to become unreachable from then on. Frantic efforts to communicate with him failed from then onwards.

EFFORTS TO LOCATE FAROUK IN YEMEN

Sources close to the family told Sunday Trust that, at that point, the parents who had been exploring means of going to Yemen to locate and bring him home, decided that they needed to take a more drastic action.

After some consultations with those knowledgeable in handling such matters, they then decided to alert both local and international security authorities about their fears for their son. This, they did, through the Nigeria Intelligence Agency, NIA, and the local representatives of its American equivalent via the United States embassy in Nigeria.

Indeed, a source close to the family told Sunday Trust that even up to a few days ago, there was communication between an American security official and Alhaji Umaru Mutallab relating to Faruk. Further investigation on the matter indicated that initially the Mutallab family had no qualms about their son’s interest in going to Yemen to deepen his knowledge of Arabic as he had been there earlier on a similar summer course lasting a few months.

Sunday Trust learnt last night that the family members were surprised that Faruk was alleged to have taken a flight from Lagos to Amsterdam at the weekend considering the fact that Faruk had claimed to have relocated to Yemen.

http://www.sunday.dailytrust.com/ind...ver&Itemid=126

[Richard]

Guardian - an editorial from major daily Nigerian newspaper.

Richard

Mutallab: The Nigerian Agent Of Al-Qaeda
Reuben Abati, The Guardian, 27 Dec 2009
Part 1 of 2

Once upon a time in this country, it was fashionable to consider certain things impossible, indeed un-Nigerian. Before the 1960s, many Nigerians considered military intervention in Nigerian politics impossible. Even when the first military coup in Africa occurred: not here, was the refrain on the lips of Nigerians. But then it happened. In the 70s, many Nigerians also never imagined a day when many Nigerians would eat crumbs from dustbins as a result of poverty. It also happened. There is a long list of "would never happen-s" which have since become elements of rude awakening in the Nigerian experience. I concluded long ago that Nigerians are capable of anything. Nothing in this country shocks me anymore.

Up until recently, I kept only one line of faith open: I could still argue that Nigerians are not likely to engage in suicide bombing no matter how fanatical they may be about any cause. Even when reports made it clear that a group of Al Qaeda fanatics had set up cells in parts of the North, I still held on to that last shred of faith in the Nigerian. Why? Nigerians I would argue love life so much that they would cling to it; their own lives that is, not the lives of others. They could kill and destroy, but that average Nigerian would like to preserve himself. We are the happiest people on earth, not so? And didn't one dictionary describe a major segment of our population, the Yoruba as "the fun-loving people of South West Nigeria". Well, even that my resilient line of thought now appears wishful. Boko Haram has shown us that many are willing to die for stupid causes. The latest incident involving the 23-year old Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab has further proven the point that everything is possible in a country and among a people who lost their moral compass.

Abdul Mutallab is a most unlikely terrorist or suicide bomber. He is said to be a student of Engineering at the University College , London and the son of a well-known and well-heeled father. What could have driven him to such extremes, that he would attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound aircraft with 278 persons on board? And he is a Nigerian! He is young, privileged: the kind of silver spoon kid that everyone would imagine was being groomed to inherit a part of the earth. What could have happened to such a young man that he would think he is better off serving the Al Qaeda? He reportedly got the chemical substance that he wanted to detonate from Yemen , and as other passengers overpowered him, they said he kept screaming about the situation in Afghanistan . How is that his problem? Everyone on that flight must be heaving a sigh of relief that the Nigerian-born would-be bomber failed in his mission and that he ended up with burned legs, and the prospect of spending the rest of his life behind bars.

It is not a good story for Nigeria . The would-be bomber's association with Nigeria further casts a slur on the country's image. It took only a few Nigerians being arrested for drug trafficking before we all became drug couriers in the eyes of immigration officials in the West. A few Nigerians added a new dimension to con-art, and the world slapped all Nigerians with the label of 419, as if we invented the confidence trick. When next a Nigerian shows up at any airport anywhere in the world, he is likely to be scrutinised henceforth as if he were an agent of the Al Qaeda. Don't be surprised if in the next few days, the Western media jumps to the conclusion that Nigeria is a major recruitment ground for terrorists, requiring every Nigerian to be treated with suspicion. Our case will not be helped by the acts of terror in the Niger Delta nor would it be helped in any way by the news that barely a week before the Mutallab incident, a local would-be bomber had tried to deliver a bomb parcel at the offices of Super Screen Television in Lagos . Professor Dora Akunyili must be biting her fingers. At a time when she is trying to rebrand the country positively, one Abdul Mutallab has just made global nonsense of all the seminars, all the appeals, all the campaigns, all the slogans, and all her passion about rebranding Nigerian. What is that slogan again? Good people, great country? Mr Mutallab and his failed bomb would not qualify as a good advertisement.

The Nigerian Minister of Aviation, Babatunde Omotoba must also be having sleepless moments. The would-be bomber reportedly started his journey from Nigeria . It doesn't matter that he was not detected at the Amsterdam Airport and that nobody suspected him while he was airborne in the Western airspace: more questions are likely to be raised about all flights emanating from Nigeria . For, at the heart of the Abdul Mutallab incident is both home and international security. We need not quibble over the Nigerian side of it: security at Nigerian airports is lax. Oftentimes the screening machines do not work. Airport security would go through your luggage with their dirty hands. Many of them don't even bother to wear gloves. I saw one guy inspecting one passenger's (I guess dirty) underwear, and then he was to go through my own bag, I quickly moved to another security personnel. Instead of using metal detectors, on many occasions, the officials frisk you with bare hands, pressing your pockets, with some of the mischievous ones trying to touch what they should not. An allegedly privileged child like Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab may not even need to go through security screening. Big men and their wives and children are often piloted through security; they could go straight to the tarmac to board the aircraft, depending on the scope of their influence. With the power of cash, anything can be taken onto an aircraft in Nigeria .

The story is also not good for Islam. The would-be bomber being a Muslim further strengthens a growing suspicion and stereotype, and an established profile of the terrorist in the mind of the West: the terrorist as Al-Qaeda, the terrorist as Muslim. With this incident also coming shortly after the Boko Haram mass murder in Northern Nigeria, it is difficult to blame those who are insisting that Nigerian faces a dangerous threat from Islamic fundamentalism. But our problem is not with Islam, but with bigotry, and demagoguery, and the colour of bigotry is not Islamic, there are Christian bigots just as there are extremists among adherents of traditional African religion. In 1993, some young Nigerians had hijacked an aircraft, they took it to Niger where they were arrested and subsequently tried and jailed. They were defending the June 12 Presidential election and they were not all Muslims. We must be cautious for there are commentators who are already rushing to judgement against Islamic Nigeria. Nor should this become an occasion for Hausa/Fulani bashing. When Nigerians reduce everything so conveniently to an expression of ethnic contempt, they gloss over the facts of a case. Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab was certainly not acting on behalf of the Islamic North of Nigeria. He is most likely either sick or a product of failed parenting, or simply tragically impressionable.

By African standards, this must be a great tragedy for his parents and other members of his family. The Devil has used their family to discredit the whole of Nigeria and bring shame upon the land. Would they disown him and claim that he is not a member of their family, not even a Nigerian? Most parents would give anything to have their children go to school in England . Children are expected to do well and bring joy to their parents. That is the African way. But to have a child from a well-known family end up as a terrorist is quite revealing. If he had succeeded, I doubt if his parents would feel that he would be on his way to Heaven surrounded by seven virgins as the myth says! Now we know: it is not only the children of the poor who engage in criminal activities; the rich also cry; and in this regard, poverty does not always explain deviant social conduct.

(cont'd)

[Richard]

Mutallab: The Nigerian Agent Of Al-Qaeda
Reuben Abati, The Guardian, 27 Dec 2009
Part 1 of 2

(cont'd)

The incident reminds America again of how much it is hated by bigots and fanatics around the world and how vulnerable it is. We live in the American century, but with the enemies of America recruiting agents from all over the world, and the most unlikely places, shows how dangerous the American century is. World peace is threatened. Hate is the dominant spirit of the age. The shape of war has changed: it is no longer on the battlefield; it could arrive in the shape of a pillow, a syringe and a pack of powder and liquid that is designed to kill 278 persons if it works. Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab could have succeeded. He was inside the aircraft; the flight was on its way, effectively inside American territory. Either a fortunate stroke of serendipity or amateurishness foiled the plan. But there is something in all of this about the vigilance of the American intelligence system. They knew about Mutallab, the terrorist. He had been on their watch-list although they didn't consider him high-risk. Could they have followed him to and from Nigeria ? Even if he escaped the security system in Nigeria (trying to be charitable here), and the more efficient system at Amsterdam Schipol, was he possibly walking into a prepared net? The agility with which someone sitting close by jumped over other passengers and wrestled him to the ground was more than coincidental. Who was the expert Good Samaritan? "They took him out and it was really quick". A CIA officer on duty? Within an hour, the White House had been informed and a statement was issued with President Obama's authority; who is also personally monitoring the investigations. There are other angles to this story that are not yet in the public domain.

The Nigerian government has acted properly by issuing a statement. The Ministry of Information and Communications has said that the "Federal Government of Nigeria received with dismay the news of an attempted terrorist attack on a US airline. We state very clearly that as a nation, we abhor all forms of terrorism. The Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria , Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has directed Nigerian security agencies to commence full investigation of the incident. While steps are being taken to verify the identity of the alleged suspect and his motives, our security agencies will cooperate fully with the American authorities in the on-going investigations. Nigerian government will be providing updates as more information becomes available."

To keep quiet would mean that the Nigerian government does not really care if the Mutallab incident turns all of us into potential terrorists in the eyes of the world. But the statement does not go far enough. It should include a direct condemnation of the would-be bomber and a declaration that Nigerians are peace-loving people. The Nigerian Government must take a keen interest in the details of the investigations at the American end, and also conduct its own investigations as promised. President Barack Obama snubbed Nigeria during his maiden visit to Africa as American President. Mrs Hillary Clinton later visited only to abuse Nigerian leaders. The other day, she classified Nigeria along with Cuba as a country that is able and capable but unwilling to make progress. What other things do the Americans know about us that are not yet public knowledge?

Mutallab, a former Federal Minister and bank chief, and father of the terrorist with Yemeni connections, has been quoted as saying that Mutallab, the son, is a problem child and that months ago, he had reported him to the US authorities. He is also said to be in Abuja assisting the Nigerian security agencies. Mutallab, the father, deserves our sympathies. This is at a private level, the story of his own failure and a lesson to all parents.

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/edito...&cpdate=271209

[T-Rock]

I don't understand the fascination with aircraft. There are much softer targets out there with better payoffs for them. I am amazed none of them have been hit.

I’m wondering if it has anything to do with the Battle of “Mutah”, Ja'far, his suicide mission, and the two wings with which he could fly wherever he wished

May Allah be pleased with Ja'far, the one who has two wings, and make our courage and bravery like his.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&s...&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

Thoughts

Second Man Arrested on Jet in Detroit

Sure took a long time for this to come out.

WASHINGTON -- The Associated Press has learned that a second Nigerian man has been taken into custody aboard a jetliner in Detroit after locking himself in the airliner's bathroom.

A law enforcement official tells the AP that the incident took place aboard the same Northwest flight that was attacked on Christmas Day. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the incident was ongoing.

A Delta spokeswoman says all 256 passengers have been safely taken off the plane. Delta operates the Northwest flight.

Copyright © 2009 Associated Press

[Pete]

"Plane remains surrounded by police and fire units, but passenger who prompted the scare is in custody"

http://twitter.com/stevebruskCNN

[casey]

Food poisoning will be the reason for all his time in the bathroom

[LongWire]

The agility with which someone sitting close by jumped over other passengers and wrestled him to the ground was more than coincidental. Who was the expert Good Samaritan? "They took him out and it was really quick". A CIA officer on duty? Within an hour, the White House had been informed and a statement was issued with President Obama's authority; who is also personally monitoring the investigations. There are other angles to this story that are not yet in the public domain.

Good article Richard....I feel that the statement above is a little far reaching, and that the author has no idea of American resolve or when survivor mentality kicks in.

Jasper Schuringa's actions that day not only saved the passengers of the flight as well as countless others on the ground, but he also saved his own life. Much has been written about Hero's and their actions, but sometimes just trying to survive gets passed up in review.

At any rate someone should be chastised, they were asleep at the wheel.