No explanation for bomb suspect boarding airliner

breitbart ^ | 5/4/10 | PETE YOST and MATT APUZZO

[Nachum]

WASHINGTON (AP) - Top U.S. law enforcement officials offered no explanation Tuesday for how the suspect in the failed Times Square bombing was allowed to board an international flight despite being hunted by the FBI and being placed on the federal no-fly list.

At a news conference, Attorney General Eric Holder said the suspect, Faisal Shahzad, had admitted trying to set off a car bomb in crowded Times Square on Saturday. He will face terrorism and weapons of mass destruction charges, Holder said.

[Palladin]

Get Granny; let Faisal go!

[Palladin]

I spell it:

JANETNAPOLITANO

[Lockbox]

Gee, what if RFK commented on the capture of Faisal Shahzad like he did for the oil spill...........

"But because of the airline industry's influence on the Bush administration -- the Bush administration waved that requirement [to look on the Not Fly List such as used in Europe]. So it made terrorism much easier with the ability to bomb and fly," Kennedy claimed.

Kennedy said the airline industry had been a "very bad neighbor in the USA." "There's been numerous bombings, beheadings and killing since 2001. And the government has essentially, the regulatory agencies have essentially turned their backs. And, and blocked their ears," Kennedy claimed.

Kennedy claimed that the industry should have been doing a lot more and more federal oversight was necessary: "... again the Bush administration the federal oversight over these airlines was virtually lifted. It was the Wild West out there, the industry did whatever it wanted assuring the American public that something like this could never happen. But at the same time the regulators were -- the regulatory agency was cut -- the budget was cut to almost nothing..."

[dragnet2]

It was the airline that contacted authorities to tell them he was ON THE PLANE!

Hey, DHS, FBI, can you come get this stupid Pakistani off our plane?

[Yo-Yo]

Shahzad became a U.S. citizen in April 2009 after passing the required criminal and national security background checks. Law enforcement officials familiar with the inquiry say investigators would go through Shahzad's citizenship application line by line to see if he lied about anything. He became a citizen in Hartford, Conn.

Yeah, let's rush through that amnesty thing right away...

[Palladin]

Right! Has anyone seen Chief Moose lately? Is he working for the FBI or for Butch Napolitano?

[Cyman]

The only reason that they caught him is a flight attendant reported him for not having his tray table in an up and locked position. Lucky for him the FBI was there because I think flight attendants have tray scofflaws as a shoot on sight priority.

[Palladin]

The ramblings of a drunkard.

[bboop]

They find Korans where the illegals come through? Citizen Militia anyone?

[Diogenesis]

“We are Democrats. All above the Law. All protected by AG Holder.”

[a fool in paradise]

He’s been outed as a registered Democrat. Wonder if he voted in 2008 since he didn’t become a citizen until April 2009...

[AliVeritas]

God forbid they break out in a game of Canasta or Bingo.

[Constitutions Grandchild]

I'm just waiting for, “The system worked...”. Of course, only after the guy was ON the plane where innocent civilians were all around him in the other seats, plus the flight crew.

Here's MY opinion of how it SHOULD have worked. Guy buys one way ticket with cash at counter at airport right before plane due for takeoff. Counter help immediately asks the person to sit, “Over there while we go through your bags” while they check his or her name against the No-Fly list. Upon finding his name on the No-Fly list, they contact airport security who POLITELY escorts the individual to a secure location B E F O R E he or she gets ON the plane.

That's they way the system SHOULD work — not find out AFTER the shifty beggar is already sitting in a seat trying to light his underwear. That's just my opinion, however.

[AliVeritas]

Too bad AZ didn’t pull folks for the National Guard on their own.

[truth_seeker]

“Maybe through Mexico, up into Arizona, the ranchers say they often find Koran´s left behind.”

Maybe when they find them, they could photograph the book and the local terrain.

To add credibility, hold up the day’s newspaper, and have witnesses in the photo.

Refer to the place on a map. Do it over and over, and it ramps up the illegal immigration issue, to a national security/war on terror issue.

[AliVeritas]

We think alike. I’ll even put on a tinfoil tooth for this one... What if they knew ‘before’ it happened?

(cue truthers)

There’s a lot of stuff going on to distract from right now.

Just sayin’.

[keepitreal]

He would have been stopped if he was dressed like an elderly nun with a walker.

[AliVeritas]

Or they could use this... graphic:

http://righttruth.typepad.com/right_truth/2010/05/graphic-images-.html

Here’s your map (McAllen, lower right state, above Brownsville):

http://blog.kir.com/archives/border%20map2.gif

But, umm, Texas doesn’t want to be haters like AZ. /s

[GovernmentShrinker]

Law enforcement and intelligence officials don’t owe a public explanation for everything they do. They probably had a good reason for letting him get as far as boarding the plane, and there may well have been a raft of LE and intel operatives on the plane to keep tabs on him. I’d be interested to know (but have no business knowing) whether his luggage, if any, actually made it onto the plane. My guess is that it didn’t.

[GovernmentShrinker]

It was the airline that contacted authorities to tell them he was ON THE PLANE!

That doesn't mean the authorities didn't already know he was on the plane, or hadn't previously contacted the airline to tell them this bombing suspect was expected to try to board the flight, and to let him do so. Besides, according to the article, it was Customs officials who saw the name on the passenger manifest and "stopped the flight".