http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/terror/ en-us Sat, 2 Jan 2010 02:39:23 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2419304/posts We have been treated to a plethora of supposed cures for the systemic failures all the recent successful terror acts have exposed. We had the Arkansas Recruitment Center shooting, the Fort Hood massacre, and the Flight 253 Bloomer Bomber. In each case, there was what in hindsight was considered various red flags that were ignored. Another systemic problem was the lack of information sharing from within and between different agencies. The big question is what steps and measures would actually make a difference. I am sure we will have some great empty rhetoric passed off as great oratory during the... Beyond the Cusp http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2419304/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 02:39:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419241/posts HONOLULU (AP) - President Barack Obama was briefed Thursday on how a 23-year-old Nigerian with suspected terrorist ties almost succeeded in a Christmas Day airline bombing and how to prevent it from happening again. Obama received the preliminary assessment ahead of meetings in Washington next week on fixing the shortcomings and failures of the nation's anti-terrorism policy. Administration officials said the system to protect the nation's skies from terrorists was deeply flawed and, even then, the government failed to follow its own directives. Vacationing in Hawaii, Obama talked with the his national security team about progress they were making on... Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419241/posts#comment Sat, 2 Jan 2010 00:04:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419201/posts On August 1, 2001, Hollywood actor James Woods witnessed four men of Middle Eastern appearance engaged in suspicious behavior on a transcontinental flight from Boston to Los Angeles. Mr. Woods’ first public recounting of his observations was five months after 9/11 on The O’Reilly Factor. During that February 15, 2002 broadcast, Mr. Woods stated that the suspicious behavior of the four men “would have been blatantly obvious to the most casual observer.” Investigation ultimately confirmed that the actor witnessed a “practice run” for the 9/11 hijackings. He ultimately learned that all four men he observed aboard his flight were terrorists... canada free pres http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419201/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 22:46:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2419147/posts While the Bush Administration allowed its critics to run roughshod over them, distorting and defining their record, the Obama Administration does not take its lumps in the media very well. Instead of facing the criticism head-on, they try to shut out and marginalize a legitimate news organization. And now that a terror plot successfully got past screening, only failing to kill hundreds due to luck and the terrorist's own failings, how does the Obama administration take its lumps? By digging around for ways in which to show the Bush administration was even more negligent and derelict in duty than they... Flopping Aces http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2419147/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 21:13:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2418971/posts Why politics shouldn't trump terror. Washington Examiner calls for her resignation CUAT & Washington Examiner http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2418971/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 15:59:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418927/posts KABUL--The suicide bomber who killed eight Americans, including seven CIA officers, this week might have been able to get through multiple layers of security at the U.S. compound aided by an Afghan informant with the agency, a Western official said Friday. If this is true, it suggests insurgents had turned the tables on the CIA and been able to place their own agents close to the facility the CIA used to cultivate informants.On Wednesday, CIA officials had invited the attacker onto the base with the hopes of recruiting him as an informant. They used an Afghan intermediary to arrange the... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418927/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 14:21:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2418620/posts Robert Stacy McCain, "the other McCain" has a searing piece on Obama and liberals. They care far less about terror than they care about their own political reputations. And those are the ones that care about terror at all. From the American Spectator: CUAT (Citizens United Against Terror) Blog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2418620/posts#comment Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:50:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418409/posts Following up on a visit from FBI officials about an eyewitness account first described to MLive.com, Michigan attorney Kurt Haskell described the visit in comment sections across MLive on Wednesday. Haskell and his wife, Lori, were aboard Flight 253 when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to destroy the plane. They say another man tried to help Abdulmutallab board the plane in Amsterdam. "Today is the second worst day of my life after 12-25-09. Today is the day that I realized that my own country is lying to me and all of my fellow Americans. Let me explain. Ever since I... Mlive.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418409/posts#comment Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:45:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418058/posts The State Department is planning to significantly increase the amount of information in its now-famous Visa VIPER cables as part of the impending administration review on the security failures surrounding underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a State Department official tells The Cable. All departments are required to submit their recommendations to the White House Thursday and the administration is expected to collate the information over the weekend to present to President Obama when he gets back to town, although some conclusions are already leaking out. But from State's perspective, the key issue remains its handling of information given to the... thecable.foreignpolicy.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418058/posts#comment Thu, 31 Dec 2009 01:32:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418054/posts <p>The Transportation Security Administration is going after bloggers who wrote about a directive to increase security after the incident.</p> IBD's Capital Hill http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418054/posts#comment Thu, 31 Dec 2009 01:28:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418048/posts In hindsight, there were clues that alleged would-be "underwear bomber" Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had become a dangerous person, and President Obama has said that it was "unacceptable" that those clues weren't spotted and acted upon. timeline During Abdulmutallab's transformation from the privileged son of a wealthy Nigerian banker to an al Qaeda trainee being taught to kill, he left a series of red flags. Now American and international law enforcement officials are trying to determine how Abdulmutallab was able to come so close to causing more terror in the skies. Here is a look at the trail of clues Abdulmutallab... ABC News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418048/posts#comment Thu, 31 Dec 2009 01:18:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417960/posts An otherwise fine Washington Post column about the attempted Christmas airplane bombing and the al-Qaida ties ended with this baffling passage: One of the top leaders of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is Said al-Shihri, 36, a Saudi national. He was captured in Pakistan in December 2001 and spent six years in the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, before being transferred to Saudi Arabia in November 2007. In Saudi Arabia, he entered a highly praised rehabilitation program that uses dialogue and art therapy to persuade former militants to renounce extremism. But after graduating, Shihri crossed the border into Yemen... IBD's Capital Hill http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417960/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 23:03:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417953/posts Barack Obama has received considerable criticism for waiting three days to address the attempted Christmas Day bombing of Northwest Flight 253. In the holiday spirit of giving, I would like to offer Obama ... the Top 10 excuses Obama can use for why it took him so long to speak up. 10. My teleprompter was on vacation last week. 9. Polishing a Nobel Prize takes longer than you think. 8. It was Bush's fault. (Hey, it worked last year.) American Thinker http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417953/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:52:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417789/posts The US blocked Dutch attempts to install full-body scanners for passengers travelling to the US before the failed suicide bombing of a transatlantic flight on Christmas Day, the Dutch interior minister said today. Authorities at Schipol airport in Amsterdam had wanted to introduce the devices to monitor US-bound flights, but the scanners were not installed because US authorities wanted them to be used on flights to all destinations, said Guusje Ter Horst The disclosure could put further pressure on Barack Obama, who has come under criticism in the US after the security lapse that allowed a young Nigerian Islamist to... Guardian UK http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417789/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:36:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417534/posts SANAA — Yemen has called for Western help against the "hundreds" of Al-Qaeda militants in the country amid reports on Wednesday that Washington is working with Sanaa to identify possible military targets. "We need more training, we have to expand our counter-terrorism units and this means providing them with the necessary training, military equipment, ways of transportation," Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Kurbi told the BBC late on Tuesday, identifying a shortage of helicopters as a particular problem. "There is support, but I must say it is inadequate," he added, referring to existing Western assistance. Kurbi underlined the continuing threat that... AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417534/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 12:11:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417484/posts A U.S. federal judge Tuesday castigated the Obama administration for being “particularly unhelpful” and the State Department for being “mealy mouthed” concerning a lawsuit filed against the Palestinian Authority for a terrorist attack. Israel National News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417484/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 08:59:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417322/posts War On Terror: The recent attack on a U.S. jet in Detroit brings Yemen to the fore as the nexus of virtually every terror attack that's come from a resurgent al-Qaida. This is one hellhole in need of attention. As wearisome as the thought of a new front in the war on terror may be, the attempted destruction of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day signals loudly that terrorists are not only still out there, but in resurgence. Since 2001, according to Heritage Foundation's James Jay Carafano, there've been 28 failed attacks on U.S. targets. This year there have... Investors.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417322/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:10:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417308/posts Security: Two of the four leaders allegedly behind the attempted destruction of Flight 253 were released from Guantanamo two years ago. The case for indefinite detention has been made once again, and not in Illinois. Sometimes America's chickens do come home to roost. In a statement released Monday, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which counts among its leadership two former Guantanamo detainees, claimed responsibility for the attempted destruction of Northwest Airlines Flight 253. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the crotch bomber, told FBI agents he was trained for his Christmas Day mission in Yemen by top leaders of the group who provided... Investors.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417308/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:44:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417329/posts Did anyone hear Weasley Clark on O'reilly? Clark said that the Nigerian is singing like a canary to his interrogators. What interrogators the Nigerian has lawyered up. Clark is a real Butt Minch. Self http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417329/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:18:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417324/posts A congressman who oversees American intelligence operations, a former CIA operative and an intelligence official agree that Christmas Day's aborted attack on a U.S. airliner proves that the nation's anti-terrorism efforts are flawed. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano praised the nation's aviation-security system Sunday but backtracked Monday, admitting the system "did not work in this instance." "Clearly, the system did not work," Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., told the Tribune-Review yesterday. Hoekstra is the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. "Success is not a person on a plane with an explosive," he said. "That is a failure. The system designed... PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417324/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:12:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417149/posts The would-be bomber of the airplane en route to Detroit, Michigan last Friday is from a wealthy family and stayed in Yemen in an area heavily populated by the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization, which said it was behind the bombing. The attempted terrorist attack again exploded the myth that claims that poverty spawns terrorism, following several incidents of wealthy Muslims being involved in terror. Israel National News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417149/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:39:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417140/posts em>Obama has not made us safer. Just the reverse!Remember when Obama worshipping columnist Andrew Sullivan opined that electing Obama would be the best weapon in the war on terror? Here's a reminder: It’s November 2008. A young Pakistani Muslim is watching television and sees that this man—Barack Hussein Obama—is the new face of America. In one simple image, America’s soft power has been ratcheted up not a notch, but a logarithm. A brown-skinned man whose father was an African, who grew up in Indonesia and Hawaii, who attended a majority-Muslim school as a boy, is now the alleged enemy. If... Flopping Aces http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417140/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:21:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2417085/posts The recent events have brought some questions. The shooting at Ft. Hood, the failed Christmas Day attack, the disruptive passenger on the same flight a day later. At least two (Ft.Hood and the Christmas flight) have ties to the Yemen operative base of Al Qaeda. Both are tied to a former US Islamic preacher Anwar al-Awlaki. It seems as if Yemen is the new Afghanistan as far as extremist assaults on the US. They started with the USS Cole. Huntington Political Examiner http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2417085/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 18:44:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416965/posts Republicans have wasted no time in attacking Democrats on intelligence and screening failures leading up to the failed Christmas Day bombing of Flight 253 — a significant departure from the calibrated, less partisan responses that have followed other recent terrorist activity. ...the GOP’s yuletide political offensive could backfire on Republicans, putting the spotlight on the party’s own less-than-spotless record on homeland security. Politico, another D.C. mouthpiece for liberalism http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416965/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:36:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416840/posts U.S. authorities didn't pursue leads that might have brought alleged Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab under further scrutiny, according to congressional investigators and U.S. officials. The State Department forwarded Mr. Abdulmutallab's name to a basic U.S. terrorist watch list earlier this month, but didn't revoke his visa after Mr. Abdulmutallab's father alerted U.S. officials to his son's potential radicalization. His purchase of a $2,800 plane ticket with cash also didn't set off alarm bells. The case highlights a failure of the terrorist watch-list system to adapt to the evolving threat from al Qaeda, said one senior U.S. counterterrorism official.... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416840/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 12:19:10 GMT