|
Post by unlawflcombatnt on Dec 28, 2009 15:08:17 GMT -6
from Yahoo News: Attempted bombing spotlights al Qaeda growth in YemenBy Adam Entous Mon Dec 28, 2009 " An attempted Christmas Day bombing of a U.S. passenger jet has put a spotlight on the growing prominence of al Qaeda in Yemen and the expanding role of the U.S. military and spy agencies in fighting the group.
Civil war and lawlessness have turned the Arab world's poorest state into an attractive alternative base for al Qaeda, which U.S. officials say has been largely pushed out of Afghanistan and is under growing military pressure from the Pakistani army in bordering tribal areas.
Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, is charged with attempting to blow up a Delta Airlines plane as it approached Detroit on a flight from Amsterdam with almost 300 people on board.
Abdulmutallab has told U.S. investigators that al Qaeda operatives in Yemen supplied him with an explosive device and trained him on how to detonate it, officials said.
The al Qaeda wing in Yemen has gained ground over the last year and Washington fears the state could become a central base of operations outside Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to U.S. defense and counterterrorism officials.
The United States has quietly been supplying military equipment, intelligence and training to Yemeni forces, who have raided suspected al Qaeda hide-outs this month, they said. The group has vowed revenge, alleging that U.S. jets participated.
U.S. officials declined to comment on whether U.S. aircraft, including unmanned drones, took part in the raids. [ What a surprise!]
In fiscal 2009, the U.S. Defense Department provided Yemen with some $67 million in overt counterterrorism assistance, a figure that does not include covert programs run by U.S. special forces and the CIA, officials said.
The Pentagon has proposed expanding that overt assistance program in fiscal 2010 but defense officials declined to provide a dollar-figure or details. [ I guess that would compromise national security if they actually did give the dollar-figure. Such a revelation would undoubtedly cause another 9/11. Or even worse. ]
"Yemen has a growing al Qaeda threat and the government there has taken important steps to address it," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said when asked about Yemen's arrest of 29 suspected al Qaeda members....
In recent congressional testimony, Mike Leiter, director of the National Counter Terrorism Center, called Yemen "a key battleground and potential regional base of operations from which al Qaeda can plan attacks, train recruits, and facilitate the movement of operatives."
"Of particular concern to the FBI are individuals who can travel with fewer restrictions to these areas of extremist activity and then enter the United States under less scrutiny," FBI Director Robert Mueller told lawmakers.
Yemen has been a long-standing base of support for al Qaeda. Militants bombed the Navy warship USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden in 2000, killing 17 U.S. sailors. And Yemenis were one of the largest groups to train in al Qaeda's camps in Afghanistan before the September 11 attacks in 2001."
|
|
|
Post by proletariat on Dec 28, 2009 15:17:36 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by unlawflcombatnt on Dec 28, 2009 18:08:07 GMT -6
It appears that every safeguard was already in place to have prevented the Yemeni episode, but was simply not used. The suspect was already on a watch list, and we already had the body scanners in place that would have detected the explosive material. But again, the readily available scanner wasn't even used, and the suspect's presence on the watch list was ignored.
from Yahoo/AP:Detroit explosive common, easily detectableBy PAMELA HESS and EILEEN SULLIVAN Mon Dec 28, 2009 " The explosive device used by the would-be Detroit bomber contained a widely available — and easily detected — chemical explosive that has a long history of terrorist use, according to government officials and explosive experts.
The chemical — PETN — is small, powerful and appealing to terrorists. The Saudi government said it was used in an assassination attempt on the country's counterterrorism operations chief in August.
It was also a component of the explosive that Richard Reid, the convicted "shoe bomber," used in his 2001 attempt to down an airliner.
PETN was widely used in the plastic explosives terrorists used to blow up airplanes in the 1970s and 1980s.
Investigators say Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab hid an explosive device on his body when he traveled from Amsterdam to Detroit. They say PETN was hidden in a condom or condom-like bag just below his torso.
Abdulmutallab also had a syringe filled with liquid. One law enforcement official said the 2nd part of the explosive concoction used in the Christmas Day incident is still being tested but appears to be a glycol-based liquid explosive....
PETN is the primary ingredient in detonating cords used for industrial explosions and can be collected by scraping the insides of the wire....It's also used in military devices and found in blasting caps. It's the high explosive of choice because it is stable and safe to handle, but it requires a primary explosive to detonate it....
law enforcement officials said modern airport screening machines could have detected the chemical. Airport "puffer" machines — the devices that blow air onto a passenger to collect and analyze residues — would probably have detected the powder, as would bomb-sniffing dogs or a hands-on search using a swab.
However, most passengers in airports only go through magnetometers, which detect metal rather than explosives.
Hidden in Abdulmutallab's clothing, the explosive might have also been detected by the full-body imaging scanners now making their way into airports.
But Abdulmutallab did not go through full-body imaging machines in Nigeria or Amsterdam....
Both airports have body scanners. The Amsterdam airport has had a long reputation for good security...while Nigeria's airports have been more of a concern.
The U.S. provided full-body scanners to all 4 international airports in Nigeria, according to the State Department. The scanners were installed in March, May and June of 2008.
Abdulmutallab was on a broad U.S. terrorist watch list but he was not designated for special screening measures or placed on a no-fly list because of a dearth of specific information about his activities....
Abdulmutallab has claimed to law enforcement officials that he received training and instructions from al-Qaida operatives in Yemen.
The Saudi Arabia assassination attempt was carried out by a Saudi who was on the country's list of 85 most wanted terrorists. The bomber was believed to have traveled to Yemen to connect with the al-Qaida franchise there. The bomber died in the explosion and is believed to have attached the explosives to his groin or inserted them inside himself."
|
|
|
Post by waltc on Dec 28, 2009 21:48:08 GMT -6
Never attribute to malice to what can be accomplished by sheer government incompetence.
Couple of things:
Government agencies do not like to share info period and generally will not unless you start firing people, which is almost impossible to do to Federal employees. The old joke among civil service types is that even a cannibal can't be fired unless he's caught red handed eating another employee.
More to the point look at the agencies involved. The TSA is a employment agency for boobs and losers from rent a cop agencies who think X-ray machines are circus rides and who can't even keep their most secure documents from the public. DHS is run by a open borders, geographically challenged multiculturalist who categorizes veterans, gun owners and Americans who want secure borders as potential terrorist threats and thinks all the 9/11 hijackers came from Canada. And worse she has put more effort into shutting down one of the few sheriff''s (Joe Arpio) that is trying to enforce immigration laws.
Its clear these agencies do not take security seriously at all.
Also Multiculturalism and political correctness are so pervasive in the Federal government that even when the Army discovers it has a Al-Qeada jihadist as a Major the higher ups are paralyzed to do anything for fear of having their careers destroyed by charges of racism by CAIR or by Obama operatives. So the murderous pig was able to go on a killing spree as a result. The FBI didn't help when they reported that having Al-Qeada pen pals is normal for active duty Army officers that supported terrorism against the U.S.
It wasn't always like this though. I remember a time when any member of the military who contacted say the Soviets would be put in jail asap within days of contacting them.
Can't do that today thanks to political correctness. Can't hurt the feelings of terrorists you know.
|
|
|
Post by Cactus Jack on Dec 29, 2009 13:24:21 GMT -6
IMHO homeland security sec Janet Napolitano should be held accountable for leaving the US vulnerable to attack by the Nigerian-born, al Qaeda trained bomber when so many clues were in plain sight that would have prevented this guy from boarding an airline headed into the United States. FACT is, she needs to step down, and I'll tell you why -- The botched Christmas Day bombing of Northwest Flight 253 raises a series of concerns about U.S. vulnerability. Chief among them: a Homeland Security chief in denial that we are at war. The nearly 300 trans-Atlantic passengers targeted for death by alleged would-be suicide bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab were saved not by any policy of the Homeland Security Department, but by the good luck of a detonator malfunctioning. So how could Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano have kept a straight face when she claimed in the immediate aftermath that "the traveling public is safe" and "the system worked"? Soon after, she was forced to agree during an NBC "Today" interview that the system of protecting the homeland from terrorists actually "failed miserably." Abdulmutallab's father walked into the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria earlier this year to warn America about this fanatic. The U.S. apparently ignored the message. Can a system that looks such gift intelligence in the mouth be said by anyone to be working? And how believable is the credibility-challenged Napolitano when she assures the nation the Christmas operation was not part of a larger terror plot when Abdulmutallab himself has told FBI agents other Yemen-based jihadists will strike soon? The odds may remain pretty good for air travelers that they won't be sent to kingdom come by a shoe bomber like Richard Reid or an undergarment guerilla like Abdulmutallab, but does anyone really believe after this incident that "the traveling public is safe"? A big part of the problem is that Secretary Napolitano and her boss, the president, do not want to believe we are at war — a long, hard war — against barbarians like the Christmas bomber, his friends in Yemen, the masterminds who run al-Qaida and terrorist states like Iran and Syria.She and the president have employed a policy of not using the terms "war on terror" and "terrorism" because they might foster an atmosphere of fear. Well, when fanatics are determined to kill Americans by the planeload, it would be irrational not to be afraid — and not to convert our fears into effective action. "Overseas contingency operations" and "man-made disasters," the favored substitute terms, are bureaucratese jargon designed to muddle the minds of the public and get people focused on this administration's domestic agenda of expanding the government. Pretending away the global war on terror only invites attacks like the one we just saw, and this administration is shirking its duties to the American people in embracing such a mind-set....continuation of the reasons why Napilitano should resign: www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=516425
|
|
|
Post by graybeard on Dec 30, 2009 8:23:45 GMT -6
Supposed red flags: "He bought a one way ticket with cash." People are discouraged from buying with credit cards in Nigeria, as the card may be swiped five times in one transaction. I would use cash, too.
"His father reported him to the US embassy." How many family feuds do you suppose result in false complaints to authorities? There was no second source for the accusation.
"Nigeria had scanners that should have detected the explosive." Yeh, and nobody is easier to bribe. Passengers and baggage from such countries should be put through full screening upon arrival, just like people off the street, rather than just being allowed to transit to other flights. Amsterdam and EU security failed miserably, as did Delta security in Amsterdam.
Meanwhile, airline passengers into and within the US are suffering more humiliation than ever, and staying away. The bad guys are winning.
These are criminal acts best attacked with good police work, not a military. The wars are failing in Afghanistan and Iraq. Probably the most effective tool we have now is the growing fleet of UAVs attacking al Qaeda in Pakistan and Yemen.
GB
|
|
|
Post by unlawflcombatnt on Dec 31, 2009 4:50:40 GMT -6
These are criminal acts best attacked with good police work, not a military. The wars are failing in Afghanistan and Iraq. Amen, Graybeard. That's exactly right. There is no "war" on terrorism. These are simple criminals, and should be treated as such. Historically "wars" have been defined as armed conflicts between nations, not against a band of outlaws. If someone wants to call this a "war," then those we capture should be considered POW's, not criminals OR terrorists. You can't have it both ways. You can't claim we're at "war" with some entity and then claim they don't have the rights of prisoners-of-war. Either they're criminals or their soldiers in a so-called "war" against the United States. I don't like Obama or Napolitano. But they are both 100% correct when they infer that this most recent action is a crime, and not part of a war.
|
|
|
Post by waltc on Dec 31, 2009 14:57:52 GMT -6
In a sense it is a war, the terrorists see themselves as soldiers of Allah and are engaged in war against infidels(meaning us) and will not stop until we are dead or converted.
It's theologically driven warfare, something us western secularists have a hard time with.
That said, the closet thing Islamic terrorists can be compared to are pirates and mercenaries. IOW stateless individuals committing acts of violence against governments and its peoples.
AFIAK we still can hang pirates and the Geneva convention allows militaries to execute mercenaries found on the battlefield.
However Islamic terrorists are different in that they commit acts that can be considered "war crimes" or "crimes against humanity" do to the heinous nature of them.
There is no analog for them in crimes found in the U.S. or in any other civilized country.
At best they deserve some kind of military trial but that's it.
But if we do want to pursue them as criminals, most of those in Gitmo will have to be freed including KSM and probably be given hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for illegal imprisonment. As there is no way any of them can be prosecuted without the government losing key intel sources and methods. Not to mention that all the evidence was gathered illegally by police standards.
|
|
|
Post by unlawflcombatnt on Dec 31, 2009 18:50:20 GMT -6
However Islamic terrorists are different in that they commit acts that can be considered "war crimes" or "crimes against humanity" do to the heinous nature of them. There is no analog for them in crimes found in the U.S. or in any other civilized country. I disagree. A "murder" is a "murder." A terrorist who kills many is a mass murderer, and should be subject to the same laws any other mass murderer is subject to, as well as any rights an accused mass murderer is entitled to. No one is legally considered a murderer until they are convicted in a court of law, regardless of what the motivation was for the murder.
|
|
|
Post by proletariat on Dec 31, 2009 20:34:40 GMT -6
The distinction is not murderer or terrorist nor even civilian or war crime but constitutional vs non constitutional. The whole notion of enemy combatant is one of supra constitutional powers. One either believes in the constitution and its constraints or one believes in tyranny.
To turn Bush on his head you are either with the constitution or against it.
|
|
|
Post by graybeard on Jan 1, 2010 0:22:12 GMT -6
Well said, Proletariat.
Who complained when Moussaui and Richard Reid were tried and convicted in civilian courts? They're being held for life in a Colo. prison. It took six days for Bu$h to say anything about the shoe bomber.
15 of the 19 hijackers were from Saudia. Bu$h released some of the Gitmo prisoners, including the 20th hijacker, back to Saudia. Some of them are now in Yemen, leading al Qaeda there. Yep, they helped the guy who just tried bombing the plane. There is an evil Bush/Saudi connection.
GB
|
|
|
Post by waltc on Jan 1, 2010 14:37:08 GMT -6
Who complained when Moussaui and Richard Reid were tried and convicted in civilian courts? They're being held for life in a Colo. prison. It took six days for Bu$h to say anything about the shoe bomber.
Bad strawmen and dishonest to boot, Reid and Moussaui were arrested by law enforcement following the rules of law not by soldiers on a battlefield with intelligence that can't be shared with the public.
This is not the case with most Gitmo thugs who were captured either on the battlefield by soldiers or through proxies in Pakistan. Everything from their capture to the info(sources and methods) used to net them will probably be tossed out by any good defense attorney.
As Bush's silence, so what, that was expected from a half-wit. Whereas Obamamessiah refused to issue the order to shoot the Somali pirates holding the American captain. It fell on the SEAL team commander and the Navy Destroyer captain to give the ok. Then there was Obamamessiah's P.C. response to the murder of American soldiers by a Muslim fanatic who was tolerated in our Army because of rampant political correctness.
The point is, if we treat terrorism as a law enforcement issue. The military and intelligence agencies cannot be used since they are not trained or meant to be glorified cops.
15 of the 19 hijackers were from Saudia.
Yep, if we had strong enforcement of immigration laws, something you Democrats hate and fight against all the time, they would have been given the boot back to their Islamic cesspool state. The same with all the other Muslim fanatics stirring up hatred here.
Bu$h released some of the Gitmo prisoners, including the 20th hijacker, back to Saudia. Some of them are now in Yemen, leading al Qaeda there.
Something most liberals approve of very much. Nor do they care that they go back to killing people. Guess people being killed is only relevant to liberals only when they can bash Republicans or Americans in general. Gotta love selective morality of the Left.
Yep, they helped the guy who just tried bombing the plane. There is an evil Bush/Saudi connection.
Evidence please. Also it happened under your messiah not Bush.
|
|