Failed Terrorist Attack on Plane Landing in Detroit

[Dustdevil]

The man has a family and deserves some downtime to see them and to clear his head...

This would be a valid point if his work time actually kept him from his family. It does not. He home offices, and his family goes with him on all his work trips.

[akflightmedic]

This would be a valid point if his work time actually kept him from his family. It does not. He home offices, and his family goes with him on all his work trips.

Come on Dusty, there is a huge difference between seeing them walk by in the hall way, pop their head in the door in between meetings as opposed to having the bulk of your day clear with no constant impeding visitors and that time allotted for the family unit to bond. Has it come to the level where we argue whether or not a family man (or any father/husband) deserves time off to enjoy them???

[spenac]

Ok now AK, Dust to your separate corners. When the bell rings come out fighting. Lets keep it clean.

Now in all seriousness as a family man that used to get paid to respond from home it is not the same being around the family when working. Your focus is not on them. You need time where they are your entire focus. Heck you need to go somewhere and shut off the phones and internet and really be just a family at least a few times every year. And as president they can't even do that they still have to stay in touch with the office when on vacation.

[Lone Star]

Flight 253 explosive common, easily detectable

PETN was widely used by terrorists to blow up airplanes in ’70s and ’80s

WASHINGTON - 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 on Northwest Flight 253. They say PETN was hidden in a condom or condom-like bag just below his torso.

Syringe

Abdulmutallab also had a syringe filled with liquid. One law enforcement official said the second part of the explosive concoction used in the Christmas Day incident is still being tested but appears to be a glycol-based liquid explosive. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.

PETN is the primary ingredient in detonating cords used for industrial explosions and can be collected by scraping the insides of the wire, said James Crippin, a Colorado explosives expert. 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, he said.

Crippin and 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, said U.S. Rep. Peter King, the top Republican on the Homeland Security Committee. King has been briefed on the investigation.

Both airports have body scanners. The Amsterdam airport has had a long reputation for good security, King said, while Nigeria's airports have been more of a concern.

The U.S. provided full-body scanners to all four 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, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Sunday. She said he was properly screened before getting on the aircraft in Amsterdam. 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.

Now I've learned that the President has cut his 'fun time' short because a kid of one of the Presidents 'golf buddies' cut his chin. It was SOOO serious that as the President and his 'entourage' were 'racing back to the compound', the family REFUSED TRANSPORT. But yet the President can't cut his 'fun time' short when someone tries to blow up a friggin AIRLINER!

[CBEMT]

This would be a valid point if his work time actually kept him from his family. It does not. He home offices, and his family goes with him on all his work trips.

It'd be a valid point if he'd actually done anything this year.

[akflightmedic]

Now I've learned that the President has cut his 'fun time' short because a kid of one of the Presidents 'golf buddies' cut his chin. It was SOOO serious that as the President and his 'entourage' were 'racing back to the compound', the family REFUSED TRANSPORT. But yet the President can't cut his 'fun time' short when someone tries to blow up a friggin AIRLINER!

I am all for valid complaints but you Sir are reaching and reaching hard.

He has the experts on the case, he gave a press conference. What is it you would like to see him do? What would placate you?

As for his fun time cut short, he returned to the course to finish his game after learning the child was ok. If you had invited guests and one of them was injured, wouldn't YOU as the HOST stop whatever fun thing you were doing and see what you could do, if nothing but moral support?

He has done all he can do in both cases, neither of which should be compared to the other.

[crotchitymedic1986]

How in the hell did this get to be about Obama's vacation ? Anyway, lets redirect to the 800lb Muslim in the room. I hear this morning that Canada will no longer allow carry-on luggage due to this latest fiasco. On all the Sunday morning TV talk shows, I heard people ask why we are not profiling muslims ? As many of you have described, we are focusing on the wrong people due to political correctness. Not all muslims are terrorist, but it seems that 99.9% of all terrorists are muslims. Being of the african american persuasion, I know what it is like to be profiled for no other reason than my race (DWB, driving while black), so I can not be impartial on this subject. What say you guys, is it time to start profiling every muslim on a plane ? I heard another news story about some muslims on another flight who scared the other passengers by talking loud in a foreign language and watching explosions on their laptops. So they seem to think this is all a big joke.

[JPINFV]

I heard another news story about some muslims on another flight who scared the other passengers by talking loud in a foreign language and watching explosions on their laptops. So they seem to think this is all a big joke.

I haven't heard an actual ethnicity or religious affiliation of the two flying into San Diego while watching The Kingdom and speaking in a foreign language. Thus Ackmed and Muhammad could very easily be Jose and Alberto. Next, what should happen? People shouldn't speak those terrorist languages and only speak the Queen's English? After all, everyone who doesn't speak English must be a terrorist? Oh, and no action films. Only romantic comedies and children's cartoons can be watched on an airplane because some panzy passenger is going to wet herself over a movie? There's a difference between ethnic profiling and absolute stupidity. Of course, ya know, not taking a father ratting out that his son is a terrorist planning to bomb an airplane to the US foreign service serious is, well, stupid as well.

[Lone Star]

Anti-terror officials let terror suspect keep visa

By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The State Department says counterterror agencies were warned that the Nigerian man who allegedly tried to blow up an airliner Christmas Day may be under extremists' influence.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly says it was up to the National Counterterrorism Center to coordinate the interagency effort that would have blocked 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab from entering the United States. He says U.S. counterterror agencies received the information on Nov. 20, a day after it was provided by the father, but it was not enough to revoke the visa.

Kelly says officials get thousands of negative messages about people that are not always accurate.

He says Abdulmutallab got the two-year tourist visa in 2008 because he had money, was attending a reputable school and had visited the United States before.

[Dustdevil]

What say you guys, is it time to start profiling every muslim on a plane ?

I say profile all non-US citizens, period. Not everyone with the money for a ticket ought to be given a visa, for one goddamn thing. There is a metric arseload of British and French "citizens" who are actually foreign born and Muslim. It's time all this visa shit stopped. I don't want foreigners here, period. Unless they're hott.