"Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab--the Christmas Day, Backdoor Bomber"

05 January 2010, 9:09 am

 

Stinkbug

END Commentary 01-04-2010

Copyright © 2009 by MHB Productions

Word Count: 3,075

 

CULINARY POLITICS

 

STINKBUG1.CHOSEIT.COM-THE ELEMENTAL NEWS OF THE DAY HEADLINES

Elemental News of the Day Commentary-Opinion-Sports-Foodservice for Monday, January 04, 2010 by Lilah Paulikovich

http://www.timesurl.at/36f0b2

“Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab—the Christmas Day, Backdoor Bomber”

Bakersfield, CA, 01-04-2010: The Christmas Day backdoor bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year old Nigerian has caused a lot of problems for the Obama Administration without accomplishing his primary task—blowing up a Northwest Airlines jetliner, Flight 253—and killing hundreds of Americans in the air above Detroit as well as many more on the ground. The fact that it took President Obama a full 72 hours before responding with a patent speech that he delivers in mock seriousness for most disturbing occasions is outrageous and had George W. Bush reacted in a similar manner, he would have been savaged for months! At least this time, he avoided the “shout out” to a Medal of Honor winner in the audience as he did when he finally showed up at Ft. Hood in the wake of the terrorist shootings at that army base committed by a “Soldier of Allah” terrorist, Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan.

You will recall Mr. Obama’s lack of urgency to rush to the facility that was the site of the WORST mass-murderous rampage on an internal American army base in the history of this nation! The fact that his predecessor, former President George W. Bush showed up there with his wife, Laura, in tow certainly doesn’t say much about the current president’s priorities. President and Mrs. Bush were on scene within 24 hours to express their condolences and to find out what, if anything, they could do.  The question is, hasn’t Barack Obama learned from what he and his confederates did when they bashed the former president over his time in office whenever he committed an “error” and now—he’s repeating the same mistakes as if they don’t pertain to him!

The day after Christmas, it was reported that Abdulmutallab was working for al-Qaida and that he was handpicked for this particular mission.  Had he been successful, he would have been able to have killed all 278 people onboard Flight 253 plus untold hundreds, if not thousands, on the ground from above the city of Detroit or across the lake in Ontario, Canada. The death toll would have been tremendous and the terrorists abroad would have been singing his praises for decades to come. He was unsuccessful, however, thanks to the swift counterattack led by passengers on the jetliner which, when they heard a series of pops, saw flames, and smelled smoke, went into action and subdued the young man. Had it not been for the swift actions of at least one passenger who climbed over seats and people sitting in them to engage the young terrorist, the flight would have been lost. Everyone aboard the jet owes their lives to the brave actions of this individual as subsequent tests of the explosive he intended to use has demonstrated that small quantities of this liquid explosive had the power to blow off the side and wing of a large passenger aircraft.

The White House made a statement on the day of the attack noting that it appeared to be the work of terrorists and to impose stricter controls on air travel but the President did not come out and address the American people. Instead, the Director of Homeland Security, former Arizona Governor, Janet Napolitano, got the nod and came out and did the work of the president and did an amazingly horrible job of it. She conducted an embarrassing attempt at consoling the citizens of this nation because her first comment was to say that “everything went as it should have.” People stood mouths agape, “gone as it should have, Ms. Napolitano? It was fine to carry one of the world’s most dangerous explosive devices aboard a packed jetliner and since it didn’t go ‘right” for Abdulmutallab, (e.g., didn’t blow up); it was fine that he was able to get the device aboard the plane concealed in his shorts?  He had it carried beneath one of those long African shirts that men wear on the continent and was not checked prior to boarding, even without a passport in Holland!

This is not what the American people wanted to know—they wanted to know that the system had gone wrong but this was the exception to the case; otherwise, no on e would willingly fly again.  It didn’t go right! The nut got the explosive aboard the aircraft and was doing his best to ignite and destroy the plane and everyone onboard and this “went right’ Ms. Napolitano? She said: “So the system has worked really very, very smoothly over the course of the past several days.” She added to that: “Now once this incident occurred, everything went according to clockwork.” Wow. This means that it’s totally fine to carry weapons of mass destruction aboard an American aircraft bound for the United States with the intent on taking out as much collateral damage as possible but this is NOT how the system is supposed to work, the system is supposed to protect the American people and it failed, it failed dismally.

Al-Qaida is reportedly in an outrage over the recent airstrikes in Yemen as the United States is doing its best to aid its Middle Eastern ally and one known for the rabidity of its very own al-Qaida branch.  Add to this that the branch is under the control of two recent Guantanamo Bay, Cuba “ex-graduates” who have been released from the American prison and one can begin to see the level of terrorist fervor that’s abundant throughout the region but primarily across the Arabian Peninsula. Wahhabism is one of the most radical, anti-Western credos that keeps the entire area in a rage over the excesses committed by the West against it and even though our nation is a great friend to the Saudi royal family, most of the people detest us and other Westerners and would love nothing more than to drive us from the region. Their second desire is to reignite the Caliphate for the Great Reawakening of the entire Islamic world.  You recall the Caliphate was abolished when the Ottoman Turks lost the First World War and Islam has been adrift ever since.

The problem with the Obama Administration has been pointed out here many times before and that is its desire to strike out at BUSH more than to strike out at the terrorists both abroad and at home. His first duty as president is to defend the nation from terrorist attacks. I mean, we understand that Bush ‘is responsible for every negative problem that this nation faces’ but Mr. President, even fellow Democrats are beginning to say, “enough already!”  Can’t we leave these constant attacks behind us as you have been in office for close to a year and it’s clear that things aren’t going well? There are far more important things that need to be done unlike healthcare reform which is not important to most of the people other than that you don’t change what they have or make it worse.  If you would just take care of those who need and cannot get it instead of shoving it down everyone’s throats, this country would be in better shape and we’d be more inclined to vote for the members of your party in 2010!

Now, the reason that al-Qaida acted against the United States is believed to be related to the airstrike on Thursday, December 24 against Imam Anwar al-Aulaqi, notable for being the cleric who provided “advice and consolation” to the Fort Hood shooter, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who is responsible for killing 13 people and one unborn child at Ft. Hood. The strike killed at least 30 terrorists in southeastern Yemen the day before Christmas and at first, it was thought that the preacher was one of those killed in attack that was a joint operation between Yemen and the United States.  Whether or not al-Aulaqi was the target or was seen at the site is unknown but it is our hope that they targeted him specifically due to both his ties to al-Qaida and for counseling Hasan. It is clear that the American military allowed too many transgressions to be committed by Hasan without some sort of disciplinary procedure and possibly a court martial. What’s interesting is the rapidity with which al-Qaida launched its reprisal!

Within a day, they had Abdulmutallab on a plane flying out of Africa and into Holland and then due to lax security precautions, the young terrorist was flying into the heartland of the United State ready to destroy a plane and kill hundreds of people as a way of striking back at the nation.  It is almost mindboggling to think that they have legions of terrorists waiting to be dispatched and this is precisely the threat that al-Qaida of the Arabian Peninsula has said: we have hundreds of suicide bombers and they’re waiting to go. The fact that Aulaqi is American-born is even worse than if he were some foreign-born piece of trash living in a mud hut, but no, this man who has American citizenship knows exactly how and where to strike at his birth country and if this isn’t a worrisome aspect, we have no idea what is!

What is making this even more difficult for the Obama Administration and one of the reasons why they keep on blaming the Bush Administration is due to the fact that the father of the would-be terrorist, a prominent Nigerian banker and former government minister, called the American embassy in Abuja in October and warned the CIA that his son had become increasingly radicalized. He didn’t know where he had gone and was fearful that he might have journeyed to Yemen because he was enthralled with Aulaqi and al-Qaida and this didn’t seem to register, even though his son had an American visa that was good until late this year. The fact that the file of Abdulmutallab was marked for further investigation but had sat unopened simply doesn’t look good for the administration as every single aspect of the CIA’s new policy is due to the Obama Administration’s direction. Abdulmutallab’s name was added to those of 550,000 other possible terror suspects but it’s clear that the father’s warning went unheeded.

In conclusion, it’s apparent that the Obama Administration needs to get its priorities straight and the first thing that must be done is to boot out the Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano. It is clear that this woman is way above her head and that someone desperately needs to be appointed to fill this position; otherwise, who knows what will cross the borders of this nation?  There is no lack of terrorists out there and this depressing fascination of healthcare reform is totally foolish, the terrorists and the constant insults and slights of Islamic enemies of the nation around the world is glaring and needs to be addressed. President Obama needs to pay more attention to defending this nation and not worrying about his progressive legislation but you can bet that the upcoming immigration reform battle will occupy more of the President’s attention than in dealing with faceless terrorists like Abdulmutallab.

Mr. Obama—it’s not too late to change course but it’s clear that you won’t heed the words of concerned citizens. If you don’t, you will cause this nation to suffer a worse horror than what took place on September 11, 2001. Whereas President Bush had absolutely NO idea what was in the works, you know full good and well and are asleep at the wheel. You will go down in history as a worse president than one of your Democratic predecessors, Jimmy Carter—wake up, Mr. President—there’s still time!

Thank you!

Lilah Paulikovich

Lilah Paulikovich

Pastry Chef, ACF, CEC, CPC, Les Amis de Escoffier Society

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END Commentary for Monday, January 04, 2010 by “Lilah Paulikovich”

Please note that everyone who writes for the Elemental News of the Day is their own person entitled to their own opinions, attitudes, and insanity so does not necessarily speak for all of us.  Please, I am tired of getting death threats from all of you people not happy with a commentary! Thanks, Stinkbug.

REFERENCES:

Barrett, Devlin. “Agencies knew of links between clerics, alleged shooter.” Bakersfield Californian 10 November 2009 National News 25.

“Father’s Call didn’t get Son on No-fly List.” The Bakersfield Californian/the New York Times News Service. 28 December 2009: 18.

Gold, Dore. “Hatred’s Kingdom.” Washington DC: Regnery Publishing Company, 2003.

Hess, Pamela and Woodward, Calvin. “Security Methods reviewed.” The Bakersfield Californian. 28 December 2009: National News 18.

“Homeland Insecurity: Janet Napolitano just doesn’t get it.” NY Daily News.com Daily News. 29 December 2009: 1. Retrieved 31 December 2009. http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/12/29/2009-12-29_homeland_insecurity.html

Irwin, Jim and Margasak, Larry. “Al-Qaida Link in failed Plane Attack.” The Bakersfield Californian. 26 December 2009: A1.

Lewis, Bernard. “The Middle East—a Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years.” New York, NY: Scribner, 1995.

Lipton, Eric and Shane, Scott. “Quick Action by Passengers stopped Attack.” The Bakersfield Californian. 27 December 2009: A7.

Maynard, Micheline and Robbins, Liz. “Another Layer of Restrictions imposed on Passengers.” The Bakersfield Californian. 27 December 2009: A 7.

McFadden, Robert D. “Army Major Opens Fire.” The Bakersfield Californian 6 Nov. 2009: National News section 28+.

Morris, Dick and Gann, Eileen. “Ft. Hood Attack was Terrorism.” Online Communication. 8-November-2009. <http://www.dickmorris.com/>

“Nigerian Man charged in Airliner Attack.” The Bakersfield Californian/the Associated Press. 27 December 2009: A 7. 

“President positioning for Immigration Reform.” The Bakersfield Californian.  30 December 2009: National News, 25.

“Yemeni Airstrike kills 30, targets Cleric tied to Fort Hood Attack.” The Bakersfield Californian/the Washington Post. 25 December 2009: A 10.

Barack Obama’s Comments on Tuesday, December 12-29-2009

Yesterday, I updated the American people on the immediate steps we took, the increased screening and security of air travel to keep our country safe in the wake of the attempted terrorist attack on Christmas Day.

And I announced two reviews, a review of our terrorist watch list system and a review of our air travel screening so we can find out what went wrong, fix it, and prevent future attacks. Those reviews began on Sunday and are now underway.

Earlier today, I issued the former guidelines for those reviews and directed the preliminary findings be provided to the White House by this Thursday. It's essential that we diagnose the problems quickly and deal with them immediately.

Now, the more comprehensive formal reviews and recommendations for improvement will be completed in the coming weeks. And I'm committed to working with Congress and our intelligence, law enforcement, and homeland security communities to take all necessary steps to protect the country.

I wanted to speak to the American people again today, because some of this preliminary information that has surfaced in the last 24 hours raises some serious concerns. It's been widely reported that the father of the suspect in the Christmas incident warned U.S. officials in Africa about his son's extremist views.

It now appears that weeks ago this information was passed to a component of our intelligence community but was not effectively distributed so as to get the suspect's name on a no-fly list.

There appears to be other deficiencies, as well. Even without this one report, there were bits of information available within the intelligence community that could have and should have been pieced together.

We've achieved much since 9/11 in terms of collecting information that relates to terrorists and potential terrorist attacks, but it's becoming clear that the system that has been in place for years now is not sufficiently up to date to take full advantage of the information we collect and the knowledge we have.

Had this critical information been shared, it could have been compiled with other intelligence, and a fuller, clearer picture of the suspect would have emerged. The warning signs would have triggered red flags, and the suspect would have never been allowed to board that plane for America.

Now, the professionalism of the men and women in our intelligence, counterterrorism, and law enforcement, and homeland security communities is extraordinary. They are some of the most hard-working, most dedicated Americans that I've ever met. In pursuit of our security here at home, they risk their lives day in, day out in this country and around the world. Few Americans see their work, but all Americans are safer because of their successes.

They have targeted and taken out violent extremists. They have disrupted plots and saved countless American lives. They are making real and daily progress in our mission to disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al Qaida and other extremist networks around the world. And for this, every American owes them a profound and lasting debt of gratitude. Moreover, as Secretary Napolitano has said, once the suspect attempted to take down Flight 253, after his attempt, it's clear that passengers and crew, our homeland security systems, and our aviation security took all appropriate actions.

But what's also clear is this: When our government has information on a known extremist and that information is not shared and acted upon as it should have been so that this extremist boards a plane with dangerous explosives that could have cost nearly 300 lives, a systemic failure has occurred, and I consider that totally unacceptable.

The reviews I've ordered will surely tell us more, but what already is apparent is that there was a mix of human and systemic failures that contributed to this potential catastrophic breach of security. We need to learn from this episode and act quickly to fix the flaws in our system because our security is at stake and lives are at stake.

I fully understand that even when every person charged with ensuring our security does what they are trained to do, even when every system works exactly as intended, there's still no 100 percent guarantee of success. Yet this should only compel us to work even harder, to be even more innovative and relentless in our efforts.

As president, I will do everything in my power to support the men and women in intelligence, law enforcement, and homeland security to make sure they've got the tools and resources they need to keep America safe, but it's also my job to ensure that our intelligence, law enforcement, and homeland security systems and the people in them are working effectively and held accountable. I intend to fulfill that responsibility and insist on accountability at every level.

That's the spirit guiding our reviews into the attempted attack on Christmas Day. That's the spirit that will guide all our efforts in the days and years ahead. Thank you very much.

 



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