Jan 07 2010

Obama Administration In Race Against Time To Stop Next 9-11

As more details are leaked out ahead of the shocking report coming out today on the near miss Christmas Day bombing on Flight 253 we are left to wonder what is going on inside this young and inexperienced administration. First, we have to ask why the administration let the bomber, Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who was trained and equipped by al Qaeda in Yemen, to be lawyered up verses interrogated (including water boarding if need be).

Had Abdulmutallab been turned over immediately to interrogators intent on gathering intelligence, valuable facts could have been gathered and perhaps acted upon. Indeed, a White House spokesman has confirmed that Abdulmutallab did disclose some actionable intelligence before he fell silent on advice of counsel. Nor is it any comfort to be told, as we were, by the senior intelligence adviser referred to above—he of the “no smoking gun”—that we can learn facts from Abdulmutallab as part of a plea bargaining process in connection with his prosecution.

This might seem to be a small point, until you read this story:

Hundreds of air marshals have been diverted onto inbound flights to the United States amid fears a dozen or more terrorists are preparing suicide missions.

Officials said intelligence reports and interviews with the Nigerian accused of trying to detonate explosives on a flight to Detroit, suggested other young men had been trained by al-Qaeda-linked groups.

President Barack Obama has reportedly ordered almost all the 3,200 existing air marshals, who are armed and work undercover, to be deployed to incoming flights by US airlines by Feb 1.

“The rush is to get our people in place before they get theirs launched,” a senior law enforcement official told ABC News.

The fact this action was publicly announced means some fear they need to do as much as possible to stop any future attacks, including letting the attackers know we are responding – probably in the hope they will suspend their activities.

If this is what is being leaked out, the soon to be released report cannot be good.

12 responses so far

12 Responses to “Obama Administration In Race Against Time To Stop Next 9-11”

  1. […] AJ over at Strata-Sphere picked up the story today. The fact this action was publicly announced means some fear they need to […]

  2. kathie says:

    I’m a little stumped……..a guy gets on a plane, it is assumed he was screened, an air marshal is on the plane, the guy goes to the bathroom for a few minutes and returns to his seat, he then tries to blow up the plane. How is an air marshal going to stop the guy? Will the air marshal profile the passengers after they are on the plane, will they stand at the counter and profile the passengers before they get on the plane, or will they hope that a bomber on the plane is a dud and put out the fire? Against bombs on a plane an air marshal is not much good, the point of air marshals was to kill somebody who was hijacking a plane like 911. It looks like Obama is really, profoundly doing something, but like closing Gitmo, or the stimulus, it’s a proclamation that hasn’t been thought through.

  3. kathie says:

    AJ can you delete on of these entries…..I have a new mouse!

  4. Neo says:

    With all due respect for the air marshals out there, going after bombers on aircraft isn’t quite the same as defending the cockpit.

    The former just happens and it’s pretty much over (unless the bomber screws up), while the latter can be responded to once it happens (by somebody like an air marshal).

  5. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Suhr Mesa, AJ Strata. AJ Strata said: new: Obama Administration In Race Against Time To Stop Next 9-11 http://strata-sphere.com/blog/index.php/archives/12207 […]

  6. Leon says:

    So they tell us that the Air Marshals will be on incoming flights to the US…sounds like an invitation for terrorists to attack using domestic flights.

  7. oneal lane says:

    I am a conservative and have no love for the Obama administration, however I think all this blaming Obama for this incident is really misguided.

    It is impossible to totally stop determined sabatours. You can screen every passenger, but eventually one will get through. What is to stop a radical convert, pilot, or mechanic, baggage handler or stray terrorist with a ground to air rocket.

    Aircraft will contine to be sabatoged, it is going to happen from time to time. Its part of the risk of life today.

    Radical climate change soldiers may parrot these kinds of activities. Gore has already called for disturbances at airports in the name of climate action. Radical Islam’s approach and the climate Fascists are after the same goal, shut down air travel.

    The Obama administration my be at fault but lets wait for the evidence. .

    All of this jumping on Obama over this reminds me of the leftist piling on Bush after Katrina. It makes us look as small and nasty as they were.

  8. WWS says:

    Oneal – Israel has done a remarkably good job of this over the last several years, in spite of having the most determined and organized enemies on the planet.

    Therefore it’s not impossible to stop determined saboteurs, it’s just difficult and most importantly requires that those in charge make some tough and politically incorrect choices.

    For example right now, with the threat we face of an influx of Yemeni trained bombers, a simple rule that no Islamic male between the ages of 16 – 35 flies without a full security screening and full pat-down search would probably eliminate the near term threat completely. Longer term AQ would adapt, but it would be difficult. They aren’t going to get European grandmothers to carry their bombs, after all. So as they adapt, we adapt. In your example, if there were a threat from airline employees (I’m not convinced there is one myself) then perhaps we would have to require that all airline employees, even baggage handlers, obtain and maintain full high-level security clearances, equivalent to what is required to work in counterintelligence. That is extreme, but it could be done.

    Yes, incidents may continue to happen but only as AQ comes up with new lines of attack, and that’s difficult to do.

    And of course as Vince Lombardi said, the best defense is a Strong Offense.

  9. kathie says:

    oneal…… systems or the people using them are not going to work perfectly every time, we KNOW. But the way Obama and his administration handled it was pathetic. Obama needs some feed back. How else is he going to learn, after all the fawning press is not helping him.

  10. […] This is just another indication of Brennan’s disturbing mindset and quirky priorities (as is the idea of arresting and lawyering up the bomber and possibly missing more life saving […]

  11. lurker9876 says:

    Obama’s and the Democrats’ excessive spending habits raises a concern about whether we can sustain a strong military over time. As entitlements continue to grow, the US government may not have enough money to maintain a strong military and to wage another war.

    And when Obama brings half the troops home from Iraq, many of them will be added to the unemployment list.

  12. oneal lane says:

    WWS, Katie yes there are more effective and less effective ways of reducing the possibility of attacks. At WWS point that the more effective ways run afoul of the “political correct” mindset. The Left will never allow it.

    Obama, and the Left’s heart will never really be into protecting the USA, as they want to tear it down, just like our enemies.