U.S. Seeks to Boost Yemen For Expanded Al Qaeda Fight 30 Dec 2009 The United States is looking at ways to expand military and intelligence cooperation with the government of Yemen to step up a crackdown on al Qaeda [al-Qaeda] militants believed to be behind a failed plot to blow up a U.S. passenger jet, American officials said on Wednesday. President Barack Obama has vowed to bring "every element" of U.S. power against those who threaten Americans' safety, but offered no specifics. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman declined to comment on any "military planning," but called a television report that the United States was preparing for possible retaliatory strikes "grossly exaggerated."
Second person was detained by U.S. Customs after alleged attack on Flight 253 29 Dec 2009 A person was detained by customs at Detroit Metro Airport on Friday following Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's alleged attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253, according to a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It is unknown why the person was detained or whether the person will face any charges, spokesman Ron Smith told MLive.com. Bill Carter, a spokesman with the FBI in Washington, D.C., said in an interview Tuesday that Abdulmutallab was the only person arrested or charged in relation to Friday's foiled attack.
Report: Dutch police investigating report of accomplice in Northwest Flight 253 terror plot 28 Dec 2009 Reuters reports Dutch military police are investigating claims that an accomplice may have helped Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab board Northwest Flight 253 in Amsterdam on Christmas day without a passport, a story first told here on MLive.com. Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to blow up the Detroit-bound plane with an explosive chemical he smuggled through security.
Man videotaped entire false flag, including detonation: Oconomowoc Family Survives Terrorist Attempt 28 Dec 2009 (WI) Patricia "Scotty" Keepman still has a sense of humor after the harrowing experience she, her husband, daughter and two new adopted children from Ethiopia had as a man tried to detonate an explosive device while their plane was getting ready to land in Detroit on Christmas Day. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab of Nigeria was charged Saturday in the Christmas Day attempt that only sparked a fire on the flight from Amsterdam. They were sitting about 20 rows behind Abdulmutallab, in a center aisle... Her daughter said that ahead of them was a man who videotaped the entire flight, including the attempted detonation. "He sat up and videotaped the entire thing, very calmly," said Patricia. "We do know that the FBI is looking for him intensely. Since then, we've heard nothing about it."
Satire: US Prepares For Post 12-25 World By R J Shulman 31 Dec 2009 The explosive device that was sewed into the underwear of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab seems to have changed America forever... "Obama can't keep us safe, like Bush did," said former Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney. "And how dare the president be vacationing out of the country in Hawaii? You'd never catch George W. Bush on vacation, while we were being attacked." Congress is also slated to pass USA Patriot Act III, a measure that will allow government officials to inspect the underwear of suspected enemy combatants at airports. "I volunteer to make these inspections," said former Idaho Senator Larry Craig (R). "I will do anything to protect America, plus I won't have to tap or take a wide stance in airport stalls as I'll now be able to show my flaming patriotism out in the open." (Satire)
Detroit bomber linked to MI5 suspect 30 Dec 2009 The Detroit bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was linked to a Muslim extremist under surveillance by MI5 while he was living in Britain, it has emerged. The Security Service have found that the 23-year-old was connected to a suspect it was investigating while he was studying at university in London. The connection was discovered after record checks by MI5 following the attempted suicide bombing on Christmas Day by Abdulmutallab on a US-bound plane. Until now, it was thought that the first time MI5 had any evidence of Abdulmutallab was when he was put on a "watch list" earlier this year after being refused a student visa because he had given details of a bogus college. But MI5 has now discovered he was on the "periphery of a past incident" sources said, although he was not said to have been under surveillance himself.
Detroit terror attack: British university 'complicit' in radicalisation --The London university where Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab studied has been accused of being "complicit" in the radicalisation of Muslim students. 29 Dec 2009 University College London, where Abdulmutallab was recently president of the Islamic Society, has been criticised for "failing grotesquely" to prevent extremists from giving lectures on campus. UCL has been heavily criticised in the past for its relaxed attitude to radical preachers, and security agencies are investigating whether it was there that Detroit bomber Abdulmutallab was recruited by al-Qaeda sympathisers.
Cheney: Obama pretending 'we are not at war' 30 Dec 2009 In blistering comments Wednesday, former Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney said President Obama's reaction to the botched terrorist attack on Christmas Day is proof that the president "is trying to pretend we are not at war." In his first statement since the December 25 terror attempt on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Detroit, Michigan, Cheney hit Obama for what he described as the president's "low-key" response to the events last week and criticized the administration's broader approach to national security.
Detroit terror attack: Barack Obama accuses intelligence services of 'systemic failures' 30 Dec 2009 Barack Obama has condemned the "systemic failures" in intelligence sharing leading to the attempted bomb attack on a passenger jet in Detroit on Christmas Day. Mr Obama said initial investigations into the failed attack had found a warning given by the banker father of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to a CIA official in Nigeria about his son's increasing radicalisation was not properly shared, meaning he was not barred from flying. A report of the warning was sent to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, up to five weeks before the attack but much of it was not disseminated to other agencies, it has been claimed.
US jet plot suspect 'was in Yemen in December' 29 Dec 2009 The Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a jet over the US on Christmas Day was living in Yemen until earlier this month, Yemeni officials have said. The foreign ministry said Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was in Yemen from August until the beginning of December, the official Saba news agency reported. He had a visa to study Arabic at an institute in the capital Sanaa.
Two al Qaeda Leaders Behind Northwest Flight 253 Terror Plot Were Released by U.S. [by Bush] --Former Guantanamo Prisoners Believed Behind Northwest Airlines Bomb Plot; Sent to Saudi Arabia in 2007 28 Dec 2009 Two of the four leaders allegedly behind the al Qaeda [al-CIAduh] plot to blow up a Northwest Airlines passenger jet over Detroit were released by the U.S. from the Guantanamo prison in November, 2007, according to American officials and Department of Defense documents. American officials agreed to send the two terrorists from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia where they entered into an "art therapy rehabilitation program" and were set free, according to U.S. and Saudi officials.
Dutch to Use Full-Body Scanners on Flights to U.S. 31 Dec 2009 The major international airport of the Netherlands will begin using full-body scanners on passengers flying to the United States to prevent a recurrence of the security breach that allowed a would-be bomber to smuggle explosives onto a flight to Detroit from Amsterdam on Christmas Day, the Dutch authorities said Wednesday. At a news conference at The Hague in the Netherlands the Dutch interior minister, Guusje Ter Horst, characterized preparations for the attack as professional but its execution as amateurish, according to The Associated Press.
TSA Looks to Expand Use of Full-Body Scanners at U.S. Airports 29 Dec 2009 The Transportation Security Administration is looking to increase the number of full-body scanners at U.S. airports over the next few years, as it reviews security procedures in the wake of the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight last week. The Transportation Security Administration is looking to increase the number of full-body scanners at U.S. airports over the next few years as it reviews security procedures in the wake of the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight last week.
Opponents call high-tech airport scans a 'virtual strip search' 29 Dec 2009 Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's failed attempt to blow up Northwest Flight 253 last week has revived a battle in Congress over the use of whole-body imaging technology to screen airline passengers. Some legislators argue that the machines, which cost about $170,000 each and are in use at 19 U.S. airports, could have detected the explosive powder the man was carrying and should be approved for widespread use. Others, however, call a whole-body scan a "virtual strip search" that should be used only if there's probable cause to assume that someone might be carrying explosives. In June, the House of Representatives voted 310-118 to prohibit the widespread use of whole-body imaging technology as a primary tool for airport screening, a measure introduced by Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah.
Afghans burn Obama effigy over civilian deaths 30 Dec 2009 Protesters took to the streets in Afghanistan on Wednesday, burning an effigy of the US president and shouting "death to Obama" to slam civilian deaths during Western military operations. Hundreds of university students blocked main roads in Jalalabad, capital of eastern Nangahar province, to protest the alleged deaths of 10 civilians, mostly school children, in a Western military operation on Saturday. "The government must prevent such unilateral operations otherwise we will take guns instead of pens and fight against them (foreign forces)," students from the University of Nangahar's education faculty said in a statement. Marching through the main street of Jalalabad, the students chanted "death to Obama" and "death to foreign forces", witnesses said.
Karzai condemns US for killing school children 29 Dec 2009 Afghan President Hamid Karzai protests the US military's targeting of civilians after a US raid killed at least eight school children in the east of the war-torn country. Karzai's office on Monday issued a statement in which it condemned the killings that reportedly took place on Saturday in Kunar province near the border with Pakistan. "Initial reports indicate that in a series of operations by international forces in Kunar province... 10 civilians, eight of them school students, have been killed," the statement said.
Eight Americans killed in explosion in Afghanistan 30 Dec 2009 Eight Americans were killed in an explosion in Khost province, in southeastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, a U.S. official said. "We can confirm that there was an explosion in Khost province and eight Americans have been killed," a U.S. official said. He could not give any further details.
'The soldier opened fire on the two Italians and one American.' Afghanistan: soldier shoots dead US serviceman 29 Dec 2009 An Afghan soldier shot dead a US serviceman and wounded two Italians when he opened fire on foreign troops at an army base in western Afghanistan. The shooting in Herat is the latest in a string of such incidents, including the death of five British soldiers last month, at a time when Western countries are pouring resources into training Afghan soldiers and police to fight the Taliban insurgency Blackwater's coffers. [See: The Obusha AfPak Money Pit By Lori Price 03 Oct 2009.]
Al Qaeda says it took Italian pair as hostages 29 Dec 2009 An Al Qaeda offshoot claimed responsibility yesterday for kidnapping two Italians in Mauritania earlier this month, and Rome’s foreign minister said it was likely that the hostages were in the hands of the radical Islamist group. In an audio message broadcast yesterday on Al-Arabiya TV, Al Qaeda [al-CIAduh] in North Africa spokesman Salah Abou Mohamed said the Dec. 19 kidnapping was a punishment for "crimes committed by the Italian government in Afghanistan and Iraq."
Provincial Governor Survives Iraq Bombings 31 Dec 2009 Attacks by two suicide bombers on Wednesday in the city of Ramadi killed at least 24 people and wounded nearly 60, including the governor of Anbar Province, a police official said... The two bombs killed 24 and injured 58, said Jasen Mohammed Hamed, chief of the Anbar provincial council. The police imposed a curfew on the province, closing the streets to anyone except police and security forces.
Lebanon army opens fire on Israeli jets 29 Dec 2009 Lebanese anti-aircraft guns have opened fire on four Israeli fighter planes that were violating airspace over the southern part of the country. "The army's anti-aircraft guns fired in the direction of four Phantom-type enemy Israeli planes that had been overflying the southeastern Hasbaya region at low altitude since Tuesday morning," an army spokesman told AFP. He added that by mid-morning the planes were still conducting their exercises in the region.
US spies: Israel or UK forged nukes report on Iran 29 Dec 2009 US intelligence sources have confirmed Iran's assertions that a document published by a British daily about Tehran's nuclear program is a fabrication. According to a former CIA official, US intelligence agents have found that the document, which was published by the Times of London on December 14, was fabricated by Israel or Britain, the Inter Press Service (IPS) reported on Monday.
UN: Israel bombed Gaza 'back to the mud age' 30 Dec 2009 The UN relief agency UNRWA said on Tuesday that Gaza had been "bombed back, not to the Stone Age, but to the mud age," because the agency was reduced to building houses out of mud due to Israel’s ban on construction materials entering the Strip. "The Israeli blockade has meant that almost no reconstruction materials have been allowed to move into Gaza even though 60,000 homes were either damaged or completely destroyed. So we in UNRWA have been saying 'let's lift this senseless blockage,'" UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness told UN Radio, according to the UN news service.
Gaza report finds major powers complicit in Israel's collective punishment By Jean Shaoul 29 Dec 2009 To mark one year since Israel’s military assault on Gaza, a report by 16 aid agencies has strongly condemned the major powers for failing to end Israel’s illegal and inhumane blockade of Gaza. While the report holds Israel primarily responsible for the appalling conditions under which the Palestinian people are living (see "Aid report details social devastation in Gaza"), it holds the European Union, the United States, Russia and the United Nations (known collectively as the Quartet) responsible for allowing the situation to continue.
NYPD Evacuated Times Square Buildings As Precaution 30 Dec 2009 A New York Police Department spokesman said it was too early in the investigation to comment on the nature of a suspicious van in Times Square on Wednesday, but police had evacuated some nearby buildings as a precaution. The Nasdaq Stock Exchange's MarketSite was among the sites evacuated, though Fox Business Network has now reported the evacuations are over and the area is being reopened.
NYPD: No bomb inside van abandoned in Times Square 30 Dec 2009 New York City's Times Square has been reopened to traffic after a bomb squad found no explosive devices in an abandoned van parked in the area. The squad used a robot-based camera to approach the vehicle and open it Wednesday. Police say they found clothing inside.
Bomb threat closes Wis. capitol 29 Dec 2009 Police are investigating a bomb threat that forced them to evacuate the state Capitol in Madison. State Department of Administration spokeswoman Carla Vigue says 911 operators received the threat, but she doesn't know precisely when. Capitol Police officers searched the building for a suspicious man with a bag before the evacuation began around 3 p.m. Officers swept the building but found nothing.
Federal appellate court limits cops' use of Tasers 29 Dec 2009 A federal appeals court on Monday issued one of the most comprehensive rulings yet limiting police use of Tasers against low-level offenders who seem to pose little threat and may be mentally ill. In a case out of San Diego County, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals criticized an officer who, without warning, shot an emotionally troubled man with a Taser when he was unarmed, yards away, and neither fleeing nor advancing on the officer.
Australian government pushes ahead with internet censorship By Richard Phillips 29 Dec 2009 The Australian government has stepped up its efforts to censor internet content, announcing on December 15 that it plans to introduce laws for mandatory filtering before next year’s federal election. The measures would be activated in 2011 and force all Australian internet service providers (ISPs) to block sites from a secret black-list maintained by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
Previous lead stories: 'A production line of terrorists' I'm the first of many, warns airline 'bomber' Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab 29 Dec 2009 A global search for accomplices in the Detroit airliner plot was under way yesterday after an al-Qaeda group based in Yemen claimed responsibility for the operation and the would-be bomber was reported to have said that more attacks were being planned. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a terrorist cell led by a former personal secretary to Osama bin Laden [well, him or Blackwater], issued a statement saying that the failed attack by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a response to American-backed airstrikes on the group in Yemen this month.
Obama vows to use 'our national power' to keep Americans safe from changing terror threat 28 Dec 2009 President George W. Bush Barack Obama on Monday vowed to use "every element of our national power" to keep Americans safe and said the failed Christmas Day plot to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner was "a serious reminder" of the need to continually adapt security measures against changing terrorist threats. But even as Obama spoke, word came that a State Department warning had failed to trigger an effort to revoke the alleged attacker's visa.
CLG: Northwest Bomb Plot 'Oddities' By Lori Price, www.legitgov.org 28 Dec 2009 Bogosity reaches critical mass! In 2008, the ACLU estimated the US 'No Fly List' to have grown to over 1,000,000 names --heck, even Cat Stevens and the late Senator Ted Kennedy were on it --and it continues to expand. But, suspected terrorist Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, who was curiously able to obtain military-grade high explosives -- 80 grams of PETN (gee, where'd he get that?) -- managed to escape airport security and detonate his underwear bomb! In April 2009, American authorities reportedly refused an Air France flight from Paris to Mexico entry into US airspace because a left-wing journalist writing a book on the CIA was on board. Got it? Write a book critical of the CIA -- you cannot fly. Carry explosives (allegedly from Yemen) on board when the US is trolling for an excuse to invade and occupy Yemen for its oil -- yes you can!
