Posted on 08/30/2010 8:56:37 PM PDT by MamaDearest
Okie dokie, so let me get this straight.
On Sunday, it was hot enough here in Charleston that I burned my feet on the sidewalk outside our apartment while walking our dog. A few hundred miles to the west, in Birmingham, Alabama, the high temperature reached near ninety degrees despite rain. At the airport there in Birmingham, a Muslim gentleman from Detroit, Michigan named Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi arrived to catch a flight. He was flying to Amsterdam, connecting once at O’Hare International in Chicago. Despite being in the deep South in late August, al Soofi wore such bulky clothing as to attract enough attention from airport personnel that he was referred for further screening. According to an ABCNews report, security officials in Birmingham found that he was carrying $7,000 in cash, and a search of his checked baggage revealed
▪ A cell phone taped to a bottle of Pepto-Bismol
▪ Three cell phones taped together
▪ Several watches taped together
▪ A box cutter
▪ Three large knives
Thankfully, al Soofi and another man were arrested and charged with “preparation of a terrorist attack.”
Too bad the pair weren’t arrested until they reached Amsterdam.
That’s right. Despite the bulky clothing, the cash, the knives and the taped watches, phones and liquid container, according to the ABCNews report al Soofi and his luggage were cleared for the flight from Birmingham to Chicago. That’s right, he was cleared for the flight. You and I need to take off our shoes and keep our shampoo in little containers. We need to keep pickable locks on our luggage, if we lock our luggage at all. Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi overtly was testing the water when it comes to airport security, and he was cleared for the flight.
Even better, once al Soofi landed in the Windy City, security officials learned that his checked luggage didn’t quite make it to Chicago with him. At least not all of it. Nope. Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi checked some of his luggage on a flight to Washington, D.C., then to Dubai, and then to Yemen, even though he himself wasn’t on any of them. Is that even possible? As far as I knew, the airlines don’t run a baggage-shipping service — heck, they charge passengers on the flight $15 just to check a bag to the same destination.
And yet al Soofi, who in Chicago met up with a Yemeni named Hezem al Murisi, was cleared along with al Murisi to fly from O’Hare to Amsterdam.
Have we gone insane? The folks at ABC are careful to point out that at no point were explosives detected anywhere within the luggage which either went to Amsterdam via Chicago or Yemen via D.C. and Dubai — but did anyone check al Soofi’s underpants? What about the other guy’s britches? Between the shoe bomber and the scrotal bomber, I think it’s fair to say that the terrorists are a step or two ahead of our security officials, despite a fortunate problem with execution; would it not be prudent, given the obvious, to secure the lives of those other passengers on those other flights–Birmingham to Chicago, Chicago to Amsterdam, Birmingham to Washington, Washington to Dubai, Dubai to Yemen–by keeping al Soofi and al Murisi on the ground and subject to interrogation?
And yet we did nothing of the sort. Instead, neither were arrested or detained until after they put hundreds and hundreds of innocent lives in danger.
At this point, why even bother with the TSA? Why even bother with Homeland Security? If we’re going to just let anybody on an airplane regardless of what they bring with them or how they’re behaving, why not allow innocent passengers to arm themselves? Why not just allow a free-for-all? Why only load one round when we’re playing Russian Roulette?
The political correctness has to stop. If it were me, a 6’3″, 260-pound white guy with the bulky clothing and taped-together electronics, would I be cleared for the flight? I’d hope not, because it is patently unfair to those other passengers who expect that every reasonable step necessary to secure their safety will be taken by the airlines and by all parties involved. If Dutch officials were satisfied that al Soofi and al Murisi were overtly planning a terrorist attack, what exactly was so different here in the States?
If we are not able to see what is directly in front of us, what hope do we have with regard to recognizing those working behind the scenes to bring about our demise?
americasright.com
Frightening. Thanks for the post..........I think.
All valid observations. From a international policing standpoint there is a lot unsaid in the article. Suffice to say they “ID’d” the dude in Birmingham and his luggage contents of seriously suspicious nature. No doubt they cleared the crap as not being explosive, etc. and then allowed the “target” to continue on to meet his pal and then... follow the modus operandi of the test run with the luggage going on another flight, and potential cell phone detonated device on the future real attack. Looked at that way.. it is smart and how you build a means to defeat another attack. Better than they did with the Nigerian dude coming INTO the US, no question.
I have a feeling there are other elements in play here that have not been reported.
I have a feeling there are other elements in play here that have not been reported.
OK, how the he!! can that happen? I'm serious, this is a bunch of crock. You mean to tell me a passenger named Mohamed can put luggage onto a flight to Washington, D.C. or anywhere he wants and not be on the flight himself.
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Thanks.
You’re missing just how smart TSA is. They deliberately let the would-be terrorists, er man-made disaster causers, think they got away with it.
TSA is just waiting for the NEXT time, when the real bombs, er man-made disasters, are packed and discovered. THEN TSA will arrest the perps on the spot.
At least I’m pretty sure that’s the deal.
“I have a feeling there are other elements in play here that have not been reported.”
Right. Janet Napolotono is putting the spin together to get them off. You know the drill: 1.) “move along, nothing to see here.” 2.) What a wonderful job Homeland Security has done.
Instead, neither were arrested or detained until after they put hundreds and hundreds of innocent lives in danger.
This is absolutely beyond comprehension. Every time we board an aircraft, we are risking our lives as those in charge of airline safety and security use us as what.....guinea pigs?
That's what the article says happened!
Sorry about that. I didn’t catch that tonigh, but will pay closer attention for future posts.
From FReeper Ruy Dias de Bivar...
It's time NOW to show them that we can only be pushed so far then it is time to open a can of whupass on them, and any politician who gets in the way!
Thanks. :)
I’m with you. Yes, the TSA has a great many morons, and a high percentage of failures in the security theater they perpetrate on the public every day. They also have some professionals who are good at what they do, and extremely powerful scanning machines, far better than nearly everywhere else in the world, which are capable of distinguishing between a bottle of pepto-bismol and a container of liquid explosive. I know we like to characterize the TSA as being only one step above Messrs. Howard, Howard, and Fine, but there are some people who do know what they’re doing. You don’t run the security for a major airport without at least some people who are competent.
No doubt this guy was tagged as suspicious, cleared for the flight once they determined that there was no true threat (knives are ok in checked luggage). They then alerted the destination and put some kind of tracking flag on their luggage.
You have to look at this through the prism of a government that has decided not to prosecute the Cole bomber.
Protecting innocent civilians doesn’t seem to be their priority.
I’m trying to imagine how the other passengers felt upon learning this? I’d be LIVID!!
I wonder how long it’ll be before Napolitano tells us “the system worked”?
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