The Depends Bomber

“The US does not have an (air) security system; it has system for bothering people.” Shlomo Dror, Israeli Air Security Expert, 2002.

The Obama Administration dodged anther bullet on Christmas day when a Nigerian Muslim by the name of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (hereafter referred to as UFA for obvious reasons) attempted to set off 80 grams of PETN hidden in his Depends-like briefs while aboard NW flight 253 as it approached Detroit. You may have seen the video of what 50 grams of PETN can do to a jet liner. 80 grams would surely have done the job, killing all 300 aboard and an unknown number of unsuspecting innocents on the ground. Had UFA’s detonator worked, the public reaction to the resulting catastrophe would be furious rather than the “ho hum, another failed terrorist plot”.

The President, not wanting to disrupt his vacation in Hawaii, took three days to comment on the incident. In his statement he used the word “alleged” numerous times.

Alleged?

Alert passengers subdued this turkey with his genitals on fire and his diaper loaded with high explosives! Obama’s statement plus the fact that UFA was arrested and given a lawyer rather than turned over to the military for questioning certified yet again this Administration’s return to the pre-9/11 mentality of treating terrorism as a legal matter. We know how well that worked out during the Clinton years.

With the lawyer’s sage advice, UFA immediately clammed up and that eliminated any possibility of obtaining any useful information from the guy. Had the CIA been given a crack at him and allowed to water board, we might have learned some useful information about his network in Yemen. Not to worry said spokesman John Brennan on the Sunday talk shows, they might offer UFA a plea bargain to obtain info. Al Qaeda is laughing their asses off. Plea him down to what? Smoking on an aircraft?

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano issued a statement saying, “…the system worked,” thus sliding just under the wire for the Stupidest Statement of 2009 Award. This is no small achievement given her other statements in ’09, such as her pronouncement that “terrorism” would now be called “man caused disasters”. She also opined that veterans, gun rights advocates and various right-wingers were serious threats to national security. Among many notable challengers on the Obama Team, ol’ Janet may be the most uniquely unqualified of the lot.

The monumental absurdity of Napolitano’s statement became glaringly obvious when it was revealed that not only had his own father reported to the State Department that his son was a threat but also, that the British had warned the US about this guy over a year ago. He had purchased a one-way ticket with cash and traveled with no luggage. The Brits had denied him a visa and yet he had a valid one from the US. This nut job was waving more red flags than a North Korean May Day parade. The only way he could have been more obvious would be to wear a tee shirt with the word “Terrorist” on the front and an arrow pointing to his crotch with the words “bomb here” next to it.

The system worked? Nothing worked… most importantly the detonator. A week after the incident Obama, after meeting with his “security advisors”, announced that, yes, “mistakes were made”. That’s my all time favorite Washington cliché. It covers crimes big and small. He informed us that from now on they would be looking more carefully at people flying in from certain Middle Eastern countries.

That’s a start but still avoids the major and blindingly obvious issue: 100% of the terrorists are Islamic fanatics, young men and primarily Arabs. Obama’s new policy would not have stopped UFA since he boarded the plane in Amsterdam. And, what about flights originating at US airports? The BHO administration, and Bush’s before him, refuse to do the one thing that would make us safer….PROFILE. Giving young Muslim men the identical scrutiny as white haired grandmothers from Omaha can only be described as idiotic.

This political correct mania and reluctance to offend any Muslims is what got 13 soldiers and one unborn child killed at Ft. Hood recently. And, it’s behind the decision to try KSM and his 9-11 terrorist cohorts in NYC instead of using military tribunals.

I can’t understand why Obama thinks it perfectly fine to vaporize suspected terrorists in Pakistan with missiles from Predator drones, but if we happen to catch one, we give him US Constitutional rights and a free lawyer. God help any SEALs or spec ops guys who might give the terrorist a fat lip in the process of capturing him. And profiling? Furgetaboutit.

Meanwhile, the TSA and FAA are dreaming up more ways to make air travel even more inconvenient and intrusive. Not only will we be just taking off our shoes and having our toothpaste and shampoo confiscated, carry-ons are now forbidden and no standing up or potty breaks on the last hour of the flight. What’s that supposed to do? Next up: full body scanners. They’ll see what Granny has in her knickers but still won’t give any special attention to the young man from Saudi Arabia with the sweat running down his forehead. Maybe everyone should simply refuse to fly until some common sense gets injected into the issue? I wonder how long it would take?