Cargo plane bomb plot: David Cameron not informed of terror threat for 16 hours

Telegraph (UK) ^ | October 30, 2010 | By Andrew Porter and Richard Edwards

[COBOL2Java]

Maybe someone in Britain with a little maturity and wisdom was trying to keep things quiet until there was time to locate, close with, capture & interrogate the senders of the bombs.

So, had Obama done the right thing and kept everything quiet, we might have been able to proceed with an undercover operation and collected some actionable intelligence.

The US Intelligence agencies could have coordinated with the intel divisions of the delivery companies and kept it all under cover. Instead, Obama allowed the whole thing to break Friday, so he could run to the cameras and give the impression that he can defend the country. This has Axelrod's stench all over it.

I can just picture the MI6 folks, who passed the intel on Thursday, doing a facepalm after Obama blew the cover.

[SE Mom]

The explosives were found on planes from Yemen that had landed at Dubai and Midlands, UK.

They were actual explosives. Not sure when they were found- but Cameron wasn’t told about them til 16 hours after Obama was told.

[roses of sharon]

When this was first breaking yesterday, I was following MSM reporter's tweets...Reuters first reported NO explosive material found (I don't remember where overseas), then they pulled back almost immediately thru a tweet saying there was explosive material..and still had the initial report on their website..the other reporters were confused and kind of teasing them about it.

(Just a tidbit I remembered this morning)

[NonValueAdded]

I’d have to think lower levels in the respective security departments were in contact and it was the Brit hierarchy that dropped the ball on moving their info up to the top. But that assumes a professional cadre, something we lost in 2008.

[maica]

Something does not pass the smell test.

@@@@@

Correct!!

I see this whole charade as a last ditch October surprise to make the One look good.

Did we ever see photographs of President Bush DURING the emergency meeting with his National Securitly Advisors? I don’t think so, and I looked at the “Day in the Life of GWB” every day here on FR.

Yet the continued news coverage of these packages included photo or video of Obama with his crew in a situation or conference room.

Smoke and mirrors!!!

[maggief]

You mean CNN had pics before Cameron was even notified?

(Speaking of bombs ... Maybe it’s a ruse for his bomb of a performance on Comedy Central. He had the audience laughing, alright ... laughing AT him.)

[Girlene]

Another article from the Telegraph lays out a few more details: Cargo plane bomb alert: explosive devices 'designed to harm US synagogues' From the article:

........."The suspected plot was uncovered by MI6 after a tip-off to one of its officers responsible for Yemen, "....

.........."On Friday, airports in the United States were on high alert after parcels containing explosive material, and addressed to synagogues in Chicago, were discovered on cargo aircraft at East Midlands airport and in Dubai. ".........

.........."The "sinister" parcel at East Midlands, contained in a UPS container, comprised what police described as a "manipulated" computer printer cartridge, which was covered in white powder and had wires protruding from it.

The device initially tested negative for traces of explosives but it was understood that a further search uncovered a second suspicious package containing a "cleverly hidden" device in a printer, which included a mobile phone as one of its components.

Officials in the US last night said that early indications were that the packages contained PETN,"............

........." There were reports that up to 20 similar suspect packages had been sent from Sana'a, the capital of Yemen, targeting synagogues in the US. ".........

............"US officials were investigating three theories: that the packages contained viable devices; that they were part of a dry run for a parcel bomb plot; or that they were a hoax designed to cause panic in the US before midterm elections. Mr Brennan said that a "traditional dry-run" would not ordinarily involve the use of explosive materials. ".........

..........."The parcels appear to have been shipped by UPS and FedEx. Using the tracking numbers of all packages sent in a consignment from Sanna, which had been split as it made its way to the US, authorities began checking all other possible suspect packages. ".................

[maica]

It’s certainly not beyond the Chicago political machine to plant the fake bombs and then assure that they get discovered, though I’m not saying that’s what happened.

[penelopesire]

It stands to reason that Obama wouldn’t give a damn about warning the brits or the British ‘conservative leader’, Mr. Cameron. Obama always thinks of his political opponents as his real enemies. The islamic terrorists are just an unwelcome side show in his opinion.

The other thing that makes no sense is that the Chicago synagogues were warned of these packages before Obama was even told about the ‘plot’. Very strange indeed.

[9YearLurker]

I’m not saying anything is what happened either, but the Chicago Political Machine (and those members thereof in the highest of offices, likely would outsource such a job to, say, the Saudi intelligence service.

[NotSoModerate]

Or this could all be a farce, and the Brits weren’t in on it.

[maica]

Well, yeah, but they would be the instigators. Of course, they wouldn’t do the actual work.

The Saudis had the tracking numbers of these parcels. How convenient.

How many thousands of parcels do FedEx and UPS ship every single day? Well, I hope, not to many from Yemen. And I understand that they are stopping completely now. Good idea!

[TommyDale]

I would argue that this was merely an attempt to get peoples’ attention away from the elections Tuesday, and to suppress the angry mobs from the streets this weekend. The big story is “What is really going on in South Carolina?”

[richardtavor]

I bet that there were no explosives—all of this reeks of “Wag the Dog.”

[SE Mom]

That gives some perspective...BUT...WHERE are the other 24 bombs? OR were there really only 2? Would they go to all this trouble for only 2 bombs?

What a mess.

[Liz]

Diversion-—right.

And an attempt to make Ohaha look presidential and “in command” as Dems expect to be buried at the polls Nov 2.

[Liz]

Thanks for the update.

[Never on my watch]

Well, if there were explosives, no one has adequately described the nature of the bombs and the actual intended time or place of the detonation (except maybe the synagogue in Chicago).

As far as I can tell they did not know if the potential attack was a dirty bomb, high explosive, or the old mail bomb which would kill or maim the guy opening the package. First reports of the suspicious object in Philly said there WAS radio activity present.

How on earth could Obama let these planes take off, let alone land in the USA or England. They could have been intended to explode like Lockerbe. Or they could have radio-logically poisoned many people.

[Girlene]

From that article,

........." There were reports that up to 20 similar suspect packages had been sent from Sana'a, the capital of Yemen, targeting synagogues in the US. ".........

..........."The parcels appear to have been shipped by UPS and FedEx. Using the tracking numbers of all packages sent in a consignment from Sanna, which had been split as it made its way to the US, authorities began checking all other possible suspect packages. ".................

I'm guessing that authorities were checking every package from this consignment from Sanna. Maybe being part of this consignment was what labeled them as suspicious once the origingation point was known. Don't know.

[TommyDale]

LOL! There is NOTHING that could make Obama appear Presidential, nor make the DOJ look competent. So far, every single thing they have tried has backfired in their assclown faces.