The Undies Bomber NOT a Security Issue But a White House Embarrassment Issue?

 

What was the 9-11 Commission for anyway?  Recommendations put forth just “shelved.”

Red flags ignored:

Father warned that son had become radical; information given to U.S. Consulate in Nigeria.

Undies bomber bought ticket with cash.

Undies bomber had NO LUGGAGE.

Undies bomber had no passport.  BUT had US VISA.  HOW did he get a VISA without a passsport?

Has anyone even looked into the “well dressed man” that accompanied the undies bomber and assisted him getting on the plane in Amsterdam?

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Now the White House is in FULL damage control mode trying to cover up their political incompetence on a major American security issue.

How inept is our current Administration?

The Washington Prowler at American Spectator writes:

On December 26, two days after Nigerian Omar Abdulmutallab allegedly attempted to use underwear packed with plastic explosives to blow up the Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight he was on, and as it became clear internally that the Administration had suffered perhaps its most embarrassing failure in the area of national security, senior Obama White House aides, including chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, David Axelrod and new White House counsel Robert Bauer, ordered staff to begin researching similar breakdowns — if any — from the Bush Administration.

“The idea was that we’d show that the Bush Administration had had far worse missteps than we ever could,” says a staffer in the counsel’s office. “We were told that classified material involving anything related to al Qaeda operating in Yemen or Nigeria was fair game and that we’d declassify it if necessary.”

The White House, according to the source, is in full defensive spin mode. Other administration sources also say a flurry of memos were generated on December 26th, 27th, and 28th, which developed talking points about how Obama’s decision to effectively shut down the Homeland Security Council (it was merged earlier this year into the National Security Council, run by National Security Adviser James Jones) had nothing to do with what Obama called a “catastrophic” failure on Christmas Day.

“This White House doesn’t view the Northwest [Airlines] failure as one of national security, it’s a political issue,” says the White House source. “That’s why Axelrod and Emanuel are driving the issue.”

Axelrod, who has no foreign policy or national security experience beyond occasionally consulting with liberal or progressive candidates running for political office in foreign countries, has been actively participating in national security briefings from the beginning of the administration. He has also sat in on Obama’s “war council” meetings, providing Obama with suggestions in both venues based on what he knows about polling and public opinion data, say several White House sources.

“[Axelrod] isn’t sitting in the meetings telling the President, ‘Do this because the polling shows that,'” says one source. “But we know that in less public settings, or on paper, David does provide guidance to the President that gives him added context to the recommendations and information our foreign policy and national security teams give him.”

Axelrod’s presence in the meetings has raised some eyebrows, as previous political advisers in the White House have typically not participated in such meetings. Bush Administration sources, for example, say that political adviser Karl Rove was not present at national security meetings.

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ADD THIS FROM WORLDNET Daily:

Eyewitnesses: 2 arrested in Christmas flight terror

‘How stupid do you think the American public is?’

December 31, 2009

Several passengers aboard the Christmas Day flight to Detroit where a Nigerian man attempted to blow up the airplane say a second passenger was arrested after the foiled terrorist attack – and they suggested other men may have played roles as well.

Kurt Haskell of Newport, Mich., and his wife, Lori, claim they were aboard Flight 253 as they returned from a safari in Uganda, seated only a few rows behind suspected attacker Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a man who admitted to affiliation with the terrorist group al-Qaida. Haskill presented a boarding pass to Michigan Live to show that he had been a passenger on the plane.

Kurt and Lori Haskell, both U.S. attorneys with Haskell Law Firm in Taylor, Mich., told the newspaper that prior to the flight they were seated on the floor near the boarding gate in Amsterdam when Abdulmutallab approached the gate with another “Indian man” who was dressed in an expensive suit.

Kurt Haskell told Michigan Live the unidentified man in the suit approached ticket agents and asked them if Abdulmutallab could board without a passport, and he tried to convince them Abdulmutallab was a Sudanese refugee.

“The guy said, ‘He’s from Sudan and we do this all the time,'” Haskell told the newspaper.

But Dutch security officials claim Abdulmutallab was carrying a valid Nigerian passport and U.S. visa, according to CBS News.

Charlie Keepman of Oconomowoc, Wis., told the Detroit News that his daughter, Ricki, saw yet another man videotaping the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, including the episode when Abdulmutallab purportedly attempted to set off explosive chemicals in his underwear.

Following the foiled terrorist attack, Haskell said passengers were corralled into a small, evacuated luggage claim area of an airport terminal. Then, he says, bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in.

“During this time period, all of the passengers had their carry-on bags with them,” he wrote in a posting on MLive.com. “When the bomb sniffing dogs arrived, one dog found something in a carry-on bag of a 30-ish Indian man.”

Haskell explained that the second “Indian” man was not the same well-dressed person who assisted Abdulmutallab in boarding the flight. He said this man wore orange clothing.

“The man in orange, who stood some 20ft away from me the entire time until he was taken away, was immediately taken away to be searched and interrogated in a nearby room,” Haskell explained. “At this time, he was not handcuffed. When he emerged from the room, he was then handcuffed and taken away.”

Immediately after the questioning, Haskell said an FBI agent approached the remaining passengers and, referring to the man in orange, said, “You all are being moved to another area because this area is not safe. I am sure many of you saw what just happened and are smart enough to read between the lines and figure it out.”

In his interview with MLive.com, Haskell said the agent’s statement made him and other passengers believe an explosive may have been detected in the man’s luggage. A second passenger, Daniel Huisinga of Fairview, Tenn., who was returning from an internship in Kenya, confirmed the account.

Haskell said authorities marched the remaining passengers out of the baggage claim area and into a long hallway.

“This entire time period and until we left customs, no person that wasn’t a law enforcement personnel or a passenger on our flight was allowed anywhere on our floor of the terminal (or possibly the entire terminal),” he wrote. “The FBI was so concerned during this time that we were not allowed to use the bathroom unless we went alone with an FBI agent. We were not allowed to eat or drink, or text or call anyone.”

Haskell said ever since the landing the FBI has insisted only one man was arrested for the airliner attack.

“However, several of my fellow passengers have come over the past few days, backed up my claim, and put pressure on FBI/Customs to tell the truth,” he wrote.

Huisinga told reporters he, too, saw a man taken away in handcuffs at the airport after a dog search.

Another passenger, Roey Rosenblith, told the Huffington Post officials arrested a man in a gray suit.

“The only thing that I recall happening is seeing an Indian guy off to the side, an older gentleman wearing a gray suit leaning against the wall. Suddenly there was a police officer next to him pulling his arms back and putting handcuffs on him,” he said. “The man didn’t struggle, the bags which seemed to be his were left there, and he and the police officer disappeared around the corner.”

Just today, the Detroit News reported a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman confirmed that officials had taken a second person into custody after the attempted bombing. But officials claim the handcuffed passenger was from a different flight, and the incident was not related.

Ron Smith, chief Customs and Border Protection officer in the Detroit office, told the newspaper, “There was a second person taken into custody, but it had nothing to do with Flight 253. They did see dogs, but again, it was a totally different incident.”

But Haskell stands by his story, claiming officials are “playing the American public for a fool.” He said their explanation would require the public to believe the following:

• FBI and Customs officials allowed passengers from a separate flight to co-mingle with the passengers of Flight 253 during a critical investigation. Haskell insists that no one – aside from law enforcement and Flight 253 passengers – was allowed in the area while they were being detained.

• Despite prohibiting passengers from drinking, eating, making calls and using the restrooms, FBI and Customs officials allowed people from other flights to “trample through the area and possibly contaminate evidence.”

• Haskell also added that no flights during that time allowed passengers to exit from the planes. The planes were held on the runway during the first hour of the detention period.

• “You have to believe that the man that stood 20 feet from me since we entered customs came from a mysterious plane that never landed, let its passengers off the plane and let this man sneak into our passenger group despite having extremely tight security at this time,” he added.

• He said the public would be required to believe FBI and Customs officials were “hauling mysterious passengers from other flights through the area we were being held to possibly contaminate evidence and allow discussions with suspects on Flight 253 or to possibly allow the exchange of bombs, weapons or other devices between the mysterious passengers from other flights and those on flight 253.”

“Seriously, Mr. Ron Smith, how stupid do you think the American public is?” he wrote.

Read the entire article HERE.

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End notes:

Is there a coverup or “spin” on the fact there were TWO possible terrorists on the same plane?  Has the FBI been told to cover up this fact?  If so by WHOM?

 

It is now the year 2010.  The “spin” of the White House needs to stop pushing the fault of any incident onto either Bush or Clinton.  They need to take accountability for their own actions or inactions.

With David Axelrod sitting in on security briefings as to the “way” to spin any news coming out of the White House just proves the lack of confidence in themselves over handling a security breach/issue.

The Apologizer in Chief has just emboldened the terrorsits throughout the world.  By treating the undies bomber as a common criminal instead of sending him DIRECTLY to Gitmo for interrogation, AS A TERRORIST,  just proves this Administration is inept in every sense of SECURING America.