German minister: Suspicious ailrline bag was 'U.S. test device'

[elehhhhna]

German minister: Suspicious bag was 'U.S. test device'

A suspicious piece of luggage that was about to be loaded onto a flight in Namibia was a "U.S. test device," Germany's Interior Minister Thomas de Maziere said in a news conference Friday in Hamburg, Germany.

The laptop bag, found Wednesday morning among the luggage being loaded onto flight 7377 to Munich, Germany, contained a functioning electronic clock with wiring attached, suitable for use in a bomb, sources close to the investigation told CNN Thursday. The sources asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the investigation.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/19/german-minister-suspicious-bag-was-u-s-test-device/?hpt=T2

[trotsky]

1. I would hope we're trying stuff like this.

How do you know if your systems are working if you don't test them?

However there's a right way and a wrong way do to this - you've got to inform a certain level of supervision about the test or the story gets legs.

[bbrady42]

2. Maybe they want people to know?

I'm thinking that at some points you'd also *want* people to know that you're doing this. Maybe letting news get out that there are test devices the system is catching will make a plotter re-think going ahead with a plan?

[DrDan]

3. particularly when the test is being conducted in a non-US airport