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An al Qaida-linked suspect who allegedly tried to blow up a transatlantic plane is studying at a UK university, it has been reported. The Nigerian is accused of trying to detonate a powdery substance on a plane from Amsterdam as it prepared to land at Detroit with 278 people on board. US sources said he was subdued by passengers and has since claimed to have been acting for al Qaida. He has been named by ABC News as Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, an engineering student at University College London, with the broadcaster citing US government documents. The suspect, who has...

A White House official said the incident was an attempted act of terrorism. The FBI is investigating and President Obama, celebrating Christmas in Hawaii, was told of the incident about three hours after the plane landed, officials said. Obama has told White House officials that all appropriate measures be taken to increase security for air travel, a spokesman said. Nevertheless, officials said, they are not prepared to raise the terrorism alert level, currently at orange -- or the second-highest of five levels -- for domestic and international air travel.

Man on Flight to Detroit Claims Al Qaeda Ties; Obama Tightens Security DETROIT -- A passenger on a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight tried to detonate an explosive device that was strapped to his leg and later told investigators that he was trying to blow up the plane and had affiliations with al Qaeda, according to a senior U.S. official. The man, who has not been publicly identified by officials, told investigators that he was given the device by Al Qaeda operatives in Yemen, where he was also given instructions on how to detonate it, the official said. The Associated Press...

WASHINGTON — U.S. officials said a Northwest Airlines passenger from Nigeria said he was acting on behalf of al-Qaida when he tried to blow up a flight Friday as it landed in Detroit. And a White House official called the Christmas incident an attempted act of terrorism. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., identified the suspect as Abdul Mudallad. King said the flight began in Nigeria and went through Amsterdam en route to Detroit. One of the U.S. intelligence officials said the explosive device was a mix of powder and liquid. It failed when the passenger tried to detonate it. The passenger...

Suspect Was Already on the Government's No-Fly List Federal officials and police are interviewing a Nigerian man, who allegedly tried to "explode" a powdery substance aboard a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, injuring himself and two other passengers, law enforcement officials said. Unconfirmed reports say a firecracker was ignited on flight bound for Detroit. The man said he was directed by al Qaeda to explode a small device in flight, over U.S. soil, ABC News has learned. Authorities have no corroboration of that information, and the credibility of the suspect's statements are being questioned, officials said. The man was apparently...

A 23-year-old Nigerian man tried to light a powdery substance aboard a Northwest Airlines flight before landing in Detroit on Friday, a senior U.S. counterterrorism official told NBC News. Two people noticed the attempt and a third person jumped on the man and subdued him, an airline official told NBC News. The man is being treated at the burn unit of the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, officials said. The man told investigators that he wanted to set off a bomb over the United States, and the incident is being handled as a possibile terrorism attack by...

KABUL -- The Taliban distributed a new video Friday of a U.S. soldier who was captured this summer in Afghanistan, with an offer to release him in a prisoner exchange.A spokesman for the international forces here denounced the video, but declined to comment on the possibility of an exchange or on efforts to rescue the captive.Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, an airborne infantryman from Ketchum, Idaho, was seized by Taliban-aligned militants on June 30. The military says he is the only American soldier who has been captured by insurgent forces during the war here.

Rep. Peter King has named the suspected terrorist who attempted to blow up an Amsterdam to Detroit flight today as "Abdul Mudallad.", according to the AP in an article timestamped 7:04 p.m. EST.King was just on live with CNN talking about the failed terrorist attack, but the CNN anchor cut King off when he started to say the suspect's name and would not allow King to name him. The anchor said CNN was not able to confirm the name.King is the Ranking Member on the House Homeland Security Committee.Citing federal officials, MSNBC is also naming the suspect, but uses a...

Private Bergdahl - assuming he's still alive - is spending Christmas as a captive of the Taliban. His captors spent the last day or two uploading a video showing Private Bergdahl reading a statement. The video was divided into four segments and uploaded to YouTube on 25 December 2009. The YouTube account is:

It is crucial that scientists are factually accurate when they do speak out, that they ignore media hype and maintain a clinical detachment from social or other agendas. There are facts and data that are ignored in the maelstrom of social and economic agendas swirling about Copenhagen. Greenhouse gases and their effects are well-known. Here are some of things we know: • The most effective greenhouse gas is water vapor, comprising approximately 95 percent of the total greenhouse effect. • Carbon dioxide concentration has been continually rising for nearly 100 years. It continues to rise, but carbon dioxide concentrations at...

A male passenger reportedly linked to terrorist organization al-Qaeda ignited a powdery substance prior to landing on a Delta Airlines flight to Detroit Friday. The suspect is believed to be Nigerian, Fox News reported. Several people were hurt and one person was admitted to the University of Michigan Medical Center at Ann Arbor, hospital spokeswoman Tracy Justice said. An emergency was declared aboard the flight, operated as Northwest flight 253, according to a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson. The suspect, who suffered second-degree burns, told federal investigators he was directed by al-Qaeda, though authorities are questioning the veracity of that statement,...

Romulus, Mich. - A senior U.S. counterterror official says a passenger aboard a Delta Air Lines flight in Detroit was planning to blow up the plane but the explosive device failed. The official said the passenger was being questioned Friday evening. It was not immediately clear why the passenger wanted to attack the flight that was arriving from Amsterdam

The Taliban released a video Friday showing a U.S. soldier who was captured more than five months ago in eastern Afghanistan. Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl is the only known American serviceman in captivity. The U.S. airborne infantryman was taken by the Afghan Taliban in Paktika province on June 30.

SNIPPET: "From Cilacap, Baridin apparently took shelter in Garut district, West Java province, where he acted as a traveling sugar salesman. When he was captured he had a pair of identity cards under aliases." SNIPPET: "Earlier this week, in fact, the newly-promoted head of Special Detachment 88, General Tito Karnavian, stated that there was evidence that the remnants of Jemaah Islamiyah are still attempting to recruit new members despite some of their most aggressive leaders getting killed over the past quarter." December 24, 2009 09:59 AM Print

The inadequacy of Barack Obama’s Afghanistan and Pakistan strategy stems from the exigencies of the calendar of the next presidential elections in America, writes Kanwal Sibal The striking thing about Barack Obama’s new policy initiative on Afghanistan and Pakistan announced on December 1 is how little in it is actually new. It re-states the problem in known terms and the proposed way forward treads old ground. This is surprising, as the president spent an enormous amount of time to examine his options, to the point of being accused of dithering, and knew that the implications of the new course he...

KABUL (AP) - The Taliban released Friday a video purporting to show a U.S. soldier who was captured more than five months ago in eastern Afghanistan.

Around 3800 Australian Defence Force personnel will be deployed on Operations overseas and in Australia this Christmas, spending the festive season away from family and friends. Defence is also gathering Christmas messages from ADF personnel who will be serving on Operations this Christmas. The majority of Australian Defence Force personnel deployed overseas are working in a number of operational areas, including: Afghanistan as part of the Australian government's commitment to the international coalition against terrorism; Iraq and the Middle East as part of the Australian government's contribution to the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Iraq; East Timor as part of a...

Instead of slogging through everything on my own as usual, Big Hollywood has picked up all 10 episodes of the series for wider distribution, and have assigned their “tech genius” Darren Rush, to get these converted and in shape in full glorious hi-definition so you don’t have to watch the shit version like the one here (though Episode One doesn’t look so bad). We start work today. Thank you Andrew Breitbart and John Nolte.

SAN'A, Yemen – Yemen's military hit suspected al-Qaida hideouts Thursday and targeted a gathering of top militant leaders, possibly killing a radical cleric linked to the U.S. Army major accused of the Fort Hood mass shooting, in strikes carried out with U.S. intelligence help, officials said. At least 30 militants were believed to be killed in the second such strike in a week. Pentagon officials could not confirm Thursday whether U.S.-born radical cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki was killed in the strike. Al-Awlaki was born in New Mexico and attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, before moving in 2002 to...

Raw video of scene on the ground inside al-Qaeda operational and training center in Yemen, blasted to smithereens by US and Yemeni forces in the last number of hours. (LINK)al-Jazeera video of al-Qaeda leader (unmasked) giving a rabid speech in response regarding the ramping up of the obliteration of a number of key al-Qaeda in Yemen, including the former Northern Virginia radical Islamist cleric "spiritual" handler of Major Nidal Hasan, Anwar al-Alauqi (apparantly)(LINK)

The internal threat from Muslim extremists in the military extends to high-level Defense Department aides who have undermined military policy. In fact, one top Muslim adviser pushed out an intelligence analyst who warned of the sudden jihad syndrome that led to the Fort Hood terrorist attack. An honored guest of the Ramadan dinner at the Pentagon this September was Hesham Islam, who infiltrated the highest echelons of the Ring despite proven ties to U.S. terror front groups and a shady past in his native Egypt. As senior adviser for international affairs to former deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, Islam ran...

George W. Bush is gone from Washington but his legacy, like an abandoned toxic waste dump, lingers on. Like President Franklin Roosevelt before him, President Bush helped redefine American freedom. And like Roosevelt's, Bush's changes were perversions of the clear vision the Founding Fathers bequeathed to us. What did freedom mean in the era of George Bush? In Iraq in September 2004, the U.S. military constructed Camp Liberty, a tent compound to house Iraqi detainees next to the Abu Ghraib prison. (The torture scandal and photos had been revealed in late April.) Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller declared that Camp Liberty...

12/24/2009 - KABUL, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- I started this year's holiday season off right; waking up Thanksgiving morning in a tin building with 200 Army Soldiers at a combat outpost in eastern Afghanistan. I'm an Airman, journalist and photographer deployed to the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command in Kabul. My two-week mission was to document and tell the story of the Afghan National Security Forces. I visited many locations including battalion headquarters and combat outposts. I witnessed everything I expected, and then some. I went out anticipating combat patrols and handing out supplies. Check. I went out anticipating the...

12/24/2009 - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- Several female servicemembers had a unique experience Dec. 17 when they traveled by Army convoy to Forward Operating Base Lion located in the Panjshir valley to meet with local Afghan women. Troops at FOB Lion instruct the women on different agricultural projects that can provide additional income for their families to include growing saffron, a spice widely used in Middle-Eastern dishes. Staff Sgt. Danielle Sempter, a medic from Swansborough, N.C. and deployed from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, says that she views the interaction as very rewarding. "It means a lot to be able...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 24, 2009 – In this season of giving, America has not forgotten her troops or their mission overseas. Thousands have contributed their time, energy -- and Beanie Babies -- to help Marines gain the respect and confidence of the Afghan population. Members of the Marine Aviation Officer's Spouses Club and the Marine Officer's Spouses Clubof Washington, D.C. collected more than 70,000 Beanie Babies for Marines to distribute to children throughout Afghanistan. The Beanie Babies, stored at Marine Barracks Washington, will be heading to their final destination when the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps makes a special visit...

KABUL, Dec. 24, 2009 – Afghan and international security forces in Afghanistan detained numerous suspected militants and seized weapons stockpiles in various operations today, military officials reported. A combined Afghan-international force detained several suspected militants in Helmand province while searching for a Taliban commander linked to a murder and intimidation campaign. The force went to a compound north of the village of Ser Banader in the Garmsir district after intelligence experts confirmed militant activity in the area. Despite receiving hostile fire when they approached, the servicemembers searched the compound and detained the militants. A combined force captured a suspected Taliban...

PARWAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Dec. 24, 2009 – Over mountainous terrain, a pair of UH-47 Chinook helicopters glided through the cold air to the remote village of Shaykh Ali in Afghanistan’s Parwan province Dec. 19, carrying nearly 45 Task Force Cyclone team members. Army 1st Lt. Brian Waddy speaks with Shaykh Ali villagers in Afghanistan’s Parwan province, Dec. 19, 2009, as part of a mission to better serve and contribute to people in the area. U.S. Army photo by Spc. William E. Henry  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Their mission: to speak with district leaders, police and villagers about how...

DEA Acting Administrator Michele Leonhart and United States Attorney Preet Bharara announced today the arrests of three individuals for drug and terrorism charges. OUMAR ISSA, HAROUNA TOURÉ, and IDRISS ABELRAHMAN arrived in the Southern District of New York early this morning to face charges of conspiracy to commit acts of narco‑terrorism and conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. The charges stem from the defendants' alleged agreement to transport cocaine through West and North Africa with the intent to support three terrorist organizations ‑‑ Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb ("AQIM"), and the Fuerzas Armadas...

SANAA, Yemen -- Yemeni forces, backed by the United States, launched an attack Thursday on a meeting of al-Qaeda operatives where a Yemeni American preacher linked to the suspected gunman in the Fort Hood attacks might have been present, U.S. and Yemeni officials said. The strike on an alleged al-Qaeda hideout in southeastern Yemen killed at least 30 suspected militants and was the second such assault in the past week, according to Yemeni security and government sources. One of the possible meeting participants was Anwar al-Aulaqi, a U.S. citizen and extremist preacher who exchanged e-mails with the Army psychiatrist suspected...

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Dec. 24, 2009) — Many family members have already gathered at Nutter Field House awaiting the Christmas Eve return of more that 150 soldiers from the 50th Multirole Bridge Company, which deployed to Iraq last December. The unit’s military mission was “full spectrum bridging operations in support of the 555th Engineer Brigade and Central Command Forces,” according to Fort Leonard Wood spokesmen. The company is part of the 5th Engineer Battalion, most of which returned from a 15-month Iraq deployment earlier this summer. Military personnel do not routinely announce the precise arrival time of returning units...

Spc. Matthew Mortensen (center), of Olathe, Kan., a combat medic with 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, shows high spirits with Pfc. Juan Ortega (left), of Belen, N.M., and Pfc. Jorge Cruz, of Waterbury, Conn., after he was shot in the shoulder by sniper fire while on a presence patrol in Baghdad, Dec. 10. Mortensen was sent back to the United States for rehabilitation and recuperation and anticipates returning to his platoon in Iraq in February. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Ryan Nolan, 2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. BAGHDAD — "I was probably two feet from my door of...

Yemeni authorities announced an air strike against a meeting of senior Qaeda officials on Thursday morning and raised the possibility that a radical cleric tied to the suspect in the Fort Hood shootings was among those killed. A statement by the Yemeni Embassy in Washington said the strike targeted a gathering of “scores” of Qaeda operatives from Yemen and other countries held in a remote corner southern Yemen, and said the cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, was “presumed” to have been present. It could take days for investigators to sift through the rubble to identify the dead, and intelligence officials in the...

Spc. Krystal Juarez, a mail clerk assigned to Company A, Division Special Troops Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, sorts letters during the holiday rush in the division mail room on Camp Liberty, Dec. 23. According to Juarez, daily mail has nearly doubled since the end of November. Photo by: Staff Sgt. Jeff Hansen, MND-B. BAGHDAD — Troops here receive more mail around the holidays than any other time of year, and U.S. Army mail clerks take pride in serving as a liaison between the service members and their loved ones. Spc. Krystal Juarez, a mail clerk assigned to Company B, Division...

There is a war of attrition going on in the Rifqa Bary case. Rifqa is the girl who converted from Islam to Christianity and fled from her family in fear for her life -- and the Islamic machine is attempting to wear her down, grind her down by constant mental abuse. The persecution is so obvious, and yet so mundane that no one seems to take notice. The banality of evil. Some sources say that a Muslim psychiatrist was assigned to Rifqa while she was in Florida, where she fled from her Ohio home (now she has been returned to...

There is no shortage of "expert advice" on what we should do in Afghanistan in light of the shortcomings of the Karzai government. Several writers argue that the best way to fight the Taliban is to support and strengthen the traditional tribal system by dealing with individual tribes rather than working to build a national police force and army. While this might offer a short-term advantage over a more comprehensive "nation building" strategy, this approach proved disastrous in both Iraq and Vietnam.

mam tied to Fort Hood shooter "killed" in Yemen raid Thu Dec 24, 3:39 am ET SANAA (Reuters) – A radical Muslim preacher linked by U.S. intelligence to a gunman who killed 13 people at a U.S. Army base is believed to have died in a Yemen airstrike on al Qaeda militants, a security official said on Thursday. "Anwar al Awlaki is suspected to be dead (in the air raid)," said the Yemeni official, who asked not to be identified. Yemen said 30 militants were killed in the strike in the eastern province of Shabwa.

They said that if they were handed over to the US, there was a possibility that they would be treated inhumanly and didn’t want to be insulted and humiliated by the American intelligence agencies, Online news agency reported. In these circumstance, they said they were appealing to the Pakistani government to decide their fate and that they would prefer the death sentence to deportation. Read more: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/south-asia/hang-us-dont-deport-us-5-americans-held-on-terror-charges_100294293.html#ixzz0ac9kYEQf

Canadian soldier killed by improvised explosive device CEFCOM NR 09.032 - December 23, 2009 OTTAWA — One Canadian soldier and one soldier of the Afghan National Army (ANA) were killed by an improvised explosive device that detonated during a joint foot patrol near the village of Nakhonay in Panjwaii District, about 25 km southwest of Kandahar City, on December 23, 2009. The explosion also injured an Afghan interpreter. Killed in action was Lieutenant Andrew Richard Nuttall, from the 1st Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (1 PPCLI), based in Edmonton, Alberta, serving as a member of the 1 PPCLI Battle...

The secretive U.S. air strike against suspected al-Qaida in Yemen last week is the latest in what has been a fast-growing campaign to better equip and fund Yemeni forces so they can eliminate the expanding al-Qaida safe havens there. The Pentagon has poured nearly $70 million in military aid to Yemen this year, a massive financial infusion compared to nothing in 2008. Much like the effort with Pakistan's Frontier Corps, the military has boosted its counterterrorism training for Yemeni forces, and is providing more intelligence, which probably includes surveillance by unmanned drones, according to U.S.. officials and analysts. The heightened...

Former President Bill Clinton came within minutes of being assassinated in the Philippines by terrorists controlled by Osama bin Laden, a new book has revealed. ...Marisa Porges, a former government counter-terrorism advisor and an expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, a US think tank, said the assassination plot, if true, would suggest al Qaeda was more developed than some thought it was prior to 9/11”.

A radical Muslim cleric claims Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan asked him about killing American soldiers nearly a year before Hasan allegedly shot to death 13 fellow soldiers at Fort Hood. In an interview Wednesday with the Arabic-language news network Al-Jazeera, Anwar al-Awlaki, considered a key recruiter for al-Qaida, said Hasan asked him in a December 2008 e-mail "whether killing American soldiers and officers is lawful or not" under Islamic law. In the interview, Al-Awlaki then appears to taunt U.S. intelligence and security, saying, "I wonder where were the American security forces that one day claimed they can read the...

NOW ZAD, Afghanistan I Signs of rebirth are growing in this former Taliban stronghold in Helmand province just days after U.S. Marines stormed it in a ground-and-airborne assault that caught its Taliban occupiers by surprise. In the once deserted bazaar area in the western portion of town, hundreds of men from nearby villages defy Taliban threats and clear debris from fighting in exchange for pay from U.S. troops. In the district center next to the main U.S. military base, more than 100 children attend ad hoc classes in reading and writing. The classes, initially started by Afghan-American interpreters working with...

Dave Attell, a stand-up comedian, gets a crowd of service members laughing during a United Service Organization holiday show aboard Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, Dec. 19. Attell and other celebrities showed their support and appreciation for service members deployed throughout Iraq on their USO tour. Photo by Cpl. Triah Pendracki, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Fwd). AL ASAD AIR BASE — The United Service Organization brought some Christmas spirit to the troops here, Dec. 19, as well-known celebrities took to the stage to show support. "To see the smiles and reaction of the troops is truly a precious gift," said...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23, 2009 – Iraqi security forces working with U.S. advisors arrested seven terrorism suspects today during two security operations, military officials reported. Four suspects were arrested in Rashidiyah, north of Mosul, during an operation conducted to arrest a suspected al-Qaida in Iraq member believed responsible for suicide-vest attacks in Balad and Muqdadiyah. Evidence collected at the scene led Iraqi forces to arrest four suspected criminal associates of the al-Qaida in Iraq member without incident. In southern Baghdad, Iraqi forces arrested a suspected member of a Kataib Hezbollah explosives cell believed to be responsible for mortar attacks conducted in...

KABUL, Dec. 23, 2009 – Afghan and international forces in Afghanistan killed or detained numerous militants today in various operations, military officials reported. In an operation led by the Afghan general directorate of special operations, several known instigators of a kidnapping group were detained. The Afghan force, supported by International Security Assistance Force troops, detained the men after a search in Police District 5 of the Afghan capital. The suspects are linked to kidnappings in and around the city. In other operations, a combined Afghan-international force in Paktia killed several militants, including a Taliban commander responsible for several bombing attacks....

KHOST PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Dec. 23, 2009 – On a rugged mountaintop bordering Pakistan, less than two miles from Northern Waziristan, sits Combat Outpost Chergotah in Afghanistan’s Khost province. Army mortar men from the Indiana National Guard provide 120 mm mortar-fire support to soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team at Combat Outpost Chergotah in the Terezayi district of Afghanistan’s Khost province, Dec. 4, 2009. U.S. Air Force photo by bStaff Sgt. Stephen J. Otero  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Here, U.S. Army soldiers work with Afghan border policemen to sustain border security and maintain peace among...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq, Dec. 23, 2009 – The soldiers of “A” Company, 1st Battalion, 77th Armor Regiment, are leading the way in the “advise and assist” mission of the 1st Armored Division’s 4th Brigade. Army 1st Lt. Dale Cox, right, speaks through an interpreter to a school principal about plans to help his school in Iraq’s Muthanna province. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The company’s mission is to assist the State Department’s provincial reconstruction team in building a better future for the people of Iraq’s Muthanna province. The soldiers provide military movement teams to...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHARANA, Afghanistan, Dec. 23, 2009 – As our families and friends back home celebrate the holidays, those of us on the ground in Afghanistan are continuing the fight against extremism. Because our enemy is relentless, we must also be as relentless. We know that in war, there are no holidays. For the “Houn’ Dawgs” of the Missouri National Guard’s 203rd Engineer Battalion, to which I am attached, our operational tempo will remain high. Our combat logistics personnel will still be out on Afghanistan’s dangerous roads, delivering critically needed fuel and other supplies to regional forward and combat...

VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico (AP) -- Family members of a fallen marine hailed as a drug-war hero were slain by a gang allied with a top drug lord in retaliation for the cartel leader's death, a state official said Wednesday. Four people who are believed to be informants and aides for the Zeta gang were detained in the deaths of the mother, two siblings and aunt of Melquisedet Angulo, Tabasco state Attorney General Rafael Gonzalez said. Angulo was the only marine who died in a Dec. 16 raid that killed drug lord Arturo Beltran Leyva. The Zetas, former military elite-turned-hit men, have...

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Bolstered by thousands of U.S. troops, Canada's top general in Afghanistan is predicting the Taliban will be marginalized from most of Kandahar's population by the time the Canadian military mission ends in 2011. Brigadier-General Daniel Menard said that with more than 5,000 Canadian and U.S. soldiers under his command, coalition forces will be able to hold areas in the violent province far more effectively than in recent years. "What I can do is marginalize the insurgency in our area and they can become irrelevant to 85% of the population of Kandahar province," said Brig.-Gen. Menard, when...