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United States News Title: White House: Failed plane attack an attempted act of terrorism(Obama told 3 HOURS AFTER PLANE LANDS-new details) A Nigerian national, claiming to be linked to al-Qaeda, allegedly tried to set off an incendiary device aboard a transatlantic airplane Friday as it descended toward Detroit's airport in what federal authorities called an attempted act of terrorism. The man was quickly subdued, according to an airline spokeswoman, and Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam landed safely around noon Friday, with several of the 278 passengers sustaining minor injuries in the incident. The suspect was being treated at a local hospital for burns he suffered while igniting the device, the Transportation Security Administration said. The FBI is investigating the incident and President Obama, celebrating Christmas in Hawaii, ordered that all appropriate measures be taken to increase security for air travel. 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. However, the Department of Homeland Security said late Friday that passengers "may notice additional screening measures, put into place to ensure the safety of the traveling public on domestic and international flights." The suspect is 23-year-old Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, a federal official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid affecting an ongoing investigation. ABC News and NBC News reported that he attends University College of London, where he studied engineering. While not on the TSA's "no-fly" list, Abdulmutallab's name appears to be included in the government's records of terrorist suspects, according to a preliminary review, authorities said. Abdulmutallab has told federal investigators that he had ties to al-Qaeda and traveled to Yemen to collect the incendiary device and instructions on how to use it, according to a federal counterterrorism official briefed on the case. But authorities have yet to verify the claim, and they expect to conduct several more interviews before they determine whether he is credible, the official said. Federal authorities have been told that Abdulmutallab allegedly had taped some material to his leg, then used a chemical-laden syringe to mix with the powder while on board the airplane, one official said. Officials described the device as incendiary rather than explosive, pending tests by forensics experts at the FBI. Incendiary devices generally deliver less of an impact than explosive devices. A man who said he was on Flight 253, Syed Jafry of Holland, Mich., told the Detroit Free Press that he noticed a glow three rows ahead in the Airbus 330, then detected the smell of smoke. In the next moment, Jafry recounted, "a young man behind me jumped on" Abdulmutallab. Jafry said there was a commotion for about 10 to 15 minutes. The passenger was restrained and the plane continued its landing at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. There it was surrounded by police cars, an ambulance and some trucks, according to a spectator, J. P. Karas, of Wyandotte, Mich. He was driving on a road close to the airport when he noticed the unusual sight of an immobile jet at the end of a runway. "I don't recall seeing a plane on that runway ever before," Karas told the Associated Press. The Christmas Day incident called to mind for many national security analysts the bizarre case of Richard Reid, a British citizen who trained at an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan and later attempted to detonate explosives hidden in his shoes on a flight from Paris to Miami in December 2001. Reid was arrested in Boston, subsequently pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. While Reid had been perceived by some as a petty criminal, he did have ties to al Qaeda, according to interviews and evidence that emerged in the course of his prosecution. And the Northwest incident comes after a hectic six months in domestic terrorism cases, from the arrest of a Colorado shuttle bus driver, Najibullah Zazi, in an alleged plot to target New York with hydrogen-based chemical mixtures, to smaller efforts by groups in Minnesota, Northern Virginia and North Carolina to export radical beliefs into action on foreign soil. The Obama administration has been proud of its efforts during its first year to thwart terrorist plots, most notably in the case of Zazi, a young Afghan immigrant arrested in early fall for allegedly amassing bombmaking skills after visiting an al-Qaeda training camp in Pakistan. As the threat of "homegrown" terrorists has appeared to rise in recent months, Obama has asked his top advisers to remain in a state of heightened vigilance. Obama was alerted to Friday's incident between 9 and 9:30 a.m. in Hawaii, which is five hours behind the East Coast. After his military aide informed him of the attempted attack, the president convened a secure conference call with John Brennan, his counterterrorism adviser, and Denis McDonough, chief of staff at the National Security Council. He later received updates from each man, senior officials said.
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#1. To: borntoweardiamonds (#0)
Man, would I love to read that in a different context.
Heh. Wouldn't we all!
But we have to disrobe prior to boarding. Well I am certain health care will be handled better by govt union employees.
----------------------------------------------------------- Something I hope will register with folks is that several of our MAJOR events/attacks have had preliminary incidents prior to them happening.The main events, OKC, Waco, Ruby Ridge, Lockerbie, WTC, all had run-ups. In other words, I believe they were ALLOWED to happen. England had this guy banned. Israel warned us about WTC. The FBI kept their employees out of Murrah. Each event caused GREAT ADDITIONAL loss of our freedoms.
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