Hunt for terror cell behind Christmas Day suicide attack as Home Secretary reveals jet bomber 'did..

[No Elephants]

Source: Mail Online (U.K.)

Home Secretary Alan Johnson today declared he did not believe the Christmas Day airline bomber was acting alone.

<snip>

The minister also confirmed this morning that Abdulmutallab had been put on a UK watch list after he was refused a student visa following an application to study at a bogus college.

<snip>

'If you are on our watch list then you do not come into this country. You can come through this country if you are in transit to another country but you cannot come into this country,' Mr Johnson said.
The revelation will increase incredulity that the 23-year-old, who was also on a U.S. watch list, was not stopped before he boarded the Amsterdam-Detroit flight on Christmas Day.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1238802/The-boy-grew-bomber-Flight-chaos-investigators-check-London-links.html#ixzz0azQi1iQY


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1238802/The-boy-grew-bomber-Flight-chaos-investigators-check-London-links.html

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Not only was the terrorist banned from entering the UK, but he bought a one-way ticket, paid cash and had no luggage, other than carry on luggage. Any one of those facts should have been a signal. In fact, I am surprised that anyone would have been that sloppy.

[Christa]

1. The UK was way ahead of us here. nt

[marshall]

11. In a country where anybody can crash a White House party, I have to concur!

We're lucky he wasn't trying to get past "security" outside the President's home.

[cartach]

24. Jeff Gannon - Male Prostitute

Visited White House over 200 times allegedly as a journalist. Unconfirmed but reliable sources indicate that many of these visits were for trysts/partying. Difference is that Gannon was welcomed with open arms and allowed in with no question from security people or Bush and his staff. Quite different from the recent security lapse which could have had dire cosequences. However maybe some of the Secret Service people should be fired but don't blame Obama,he inherited these people from Bush. And it's a far cry from condoning visits from a known pervert over an extended period of time. Hell, there's even photos on the internet of Bush fondling Gannon's bald head and one of him giving it a kiss . But there's gotta be something there. Let's hear from the trolls on this one.

[marshall]

25. There's a difference between letting someone in on the down low and someone sneaking in

One isn't a security breach, the other one is.

[cartach]

26. Right !

Bush and Co., allowed a known pervert and prostitute into the White House. Not required to sneak in but invited. Call it what you want but which is worse ?

[marshall]

27. Depends on your brand of morality

They're two different issues (as long as the prostitute was properly vetted and didn't have any weapons).

[FrenchieCat]

2. I'm just curious. In what country did this person board a plane?

Was it the US or elsewhere? And if it was elsewhere, would we have been the ones checking for these telltale signs? Was it an American Airliner, and that is why Americans were responsible?

[elleng]

7. Netherland (apropos, eh?) Amsterdam.

'Privacy advocates, for example, have tried to stop or at least slow the introduction of advanced checkpoint screening devices that use so-called millimeter waves to create an image of a passenger’s body, so officers can see under clothing to determine if a weapon or explosive has been hidden. Security officers, in a private area, review the images, which are not stored. Legislation is pending in the House that would prohibit the use of this equipment for routine passenger screening.

To date, only 40 of these machines have been installed at 19 airports across the United States — meaning only a tiny fraction of passengers pass through them. Amsterdam’s airport has 15 of these machines — more than just about any airport in the world — but an official there said Sunday that they were prohibited from using them on passengers bound for the United States, for a reason she did not explain.'


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x505803

[JDPriestly]

12. So, the price for security on planes is allowing authorities to

see all passengers in the nude.

And of course we are supposed to pay huge amounts of money for these machines -- no budget neutrality required for this. But how?

It is getting so that air travel is just so much trouble -- so expensive and just such a hassle in terms of luggage. We are no charged if we so much as check one bag through. And then we are stuffed like sardines into our seats -- no room for our feet. I get terrible cramps from sitting in such a constrained position for so long.

The strangest thing is that I am small and so often have to sit by some huge person who can't help but take up all the room. I just get squeezed in there. Air travel is horrible.

Whatever happened to Greyhound buses? If someone acts odd, you just stop the bus and get everybody off until the police come. The problem with airplanes is that you are stuck inside.

[No Elephants]

14. Who has authority to ban use of security measures on passengers bound for the U.S. and why would

the Netherlands cave in on that? Their citizens fly on those planes, too.

[No Elephants]

13. Who said Americans were responsible for missing the telltale signs?

If we had responsiblity, it was for other things, not for knowing he bought his ticket with cash, etc.

[snagglepuss]

15. Americans were responsible for a numbe of reason e.g. they ignored the father's

warnings. The father who happens to be a highly educated and respected) Nigerian told Americans that his son was dangerous. The father said he was SURPRISED that his son was allowed to fly. Furthermore American inspectors had recently inspected security procedures at the African airport where the bomber had initially boarded. The fact that the bomber had no luggage other than a carryon didnt even raise a redflag. These are just some of the points.

[zeemike]

3. Sounds like he never tried to hide it.

And that makes me wonder.

[dgibby]

4. And his own father warned the US embassy in Nigeria

that he was worried that his son was possibly planning some sort of jihad.

[change_notfinetuning]

5. We don't need no stinkin' lists. We got drones and 30,000 more on the way to

Afghanistan. We've got billions of dollars with terrorists' names on them, and more printing presses where those billions came from. We'll show 'em.

Lists? WTF? Would John Wayne use a list? Would John Belushi use a list? What do we look like - pussies?

(I don't know how much more of this change I can take.)

[elleng]

6. Problem is there's SO MUCH NECESSARY TO CHANGE

from past 8 years, it will take MUCH MORE TIME and effort. Government doesn't, CAN'T move quickly. Its a BIG COUNTRY, too. Not exactly comparable to Britain!

[change_notfinetuning]

8. Sorry, but how can it take longer to keep a person, whose own father warns

you about his religious radicalism and is already on a watch list, out of the country than it takes to send thousands more troops to fight a very dumb war in Afghanistan?

Drones and escalated warfare, instead of intelligence and response, sounds like a continuation of Bush policy that Obama has no intention of changing, so I guess I'll be waiting a very long time.

BTW, have you heard we have computers now? You might want to let the government know, too. Changing something in the computer doesn't take months.

[elleng]

9. No need for sarcasm here.

It takes a LONG TIME to change all the necessary rules, like it or not.

[snagglepuss]

16. The issue is that the necessary rules are in place the issue is that they are not being

followed.

[change_notfinetuning]

20. Like not getting up the last hour? How long did that take? As if they have a

"gentleman's" agreement with the terrorists not to blow up a plane until the last hour. A knee-jerk rule like that is indicative of just more incompetence. We are always fighting the past attack, with little thought as to the "big picture".

[truthisfreedom]

10. it's as if one of cheney's old plants set this all up and made it happen.One-way tickets were always

an indicator for the original 9-11 terrorists. No baggage? No-brainer.

[snagglepuss]

17. I'm not sure if your're being sarcastic or serious about Cheney plants.

The issue is profound incompetence. Incompetence that Cheney preceived and exploited for his own ends.

[change_notfinetuning]

19. Exactly. The issue is incompetence. Government incompetence. n/t

[snagglepuss]

21. Bullshit. A rightwing meme used to justify privatization.

:puke:

[change_notfinetuning]

22. Nonsense. I'm not for privatization of anything. Just for accountability and

incompetent heads-rolling. I know we can't vote the bastards out, the elected ones that is because we are too stupid, but the unelected incompetents should not be allowed to continue messing things up, especially in the area of public safety. I'd like to think they could be replaced with competent people. Unfortunately, the buck doesn't really stop until you get to the top, and that's Obama. Gung-ho war policy does nothing to solve these little problems. In fact, it compounds them.

[clear eye]

18. He couldn't have been acting alone if a man intervened to get him aboard w/o a passport. n/t

[kiranon]

23. His multiple visit visa should have been canceled once he was on

the watch list. Do not understand why his visa status has not been questioned as contributing to his easy access to the United States. The Brits got it right in saying once on the watch list he could no longer come into their country. State Department needs to cancel a lot of the visas that let people come into this country anytime and for multiple visits. Need to reassess those coming into the country and perhaps question them extensively by those skilled in detecting those whose statements do not match their physical reactions. And, question where they have been and with whom and for what purpose.