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’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.