PrairiePundit

ABC News: Al Qaeda's most diabolical bomb maker, who has targeted the American homeland at least four times, has trained other terrorists who are now being hunted down, the top U.S. aviation security official said today. Transportation Security Administrator John Pistole told ABC News during a discussion at a counterterrorism conference that accused Saudi terrorist Ibrahim al-Asiri had shared his expertise at building almost undetectable bombs with a number of al Qaeda operatives. "There is intel that he has unfortunately trained others," Pistole said at the annual Aspen Security Forum. Asiri, 31, created two versions of an improvised explosive device hidden in men's underwear, with which the Yemen-based al Qaeda affiliate al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) almost succeeded in blowing up a passenger jet over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009. A "new and improved" version was obtained by spy agencies last year. Pistole said that "there is a lot of ...

BBC: A man has been held at Karachi airport after batteries and an electrical circuit were found in his shoes as he tried to board a plane, reports say. Mohammad Munir, spokesman for the airport security force, said the civil engineer was arrested when a scanner sounded an alarm at the airport. He was scheduled to travel to the Omani capital Muscat on Thai Airways. The suspect was not found in possession of explosives, but Mr Munir described the circuit discovery as "worrying". ... The terrorist have had trouble with triggering their shoe bomb and their underwear bomb and it could be a test to see if an electronic triggering device could get through airport security. If that was the case then the test failed. Dawn says the man claimed that the shoes were for massage therapy. The authorities are checking out his story.

Washington Post: A U.S. consular official originally denied terrorism suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab a visa to enter the United States in 2004 after finding false information on his application, but that official was overruled by a supervisor, according to senior government sources. Because the 2004 situation was considered resolved, it was not revisited in 2008, when Abdulmutallab received a second U.S. visa, which allowed him to board a Detroit-bound airliner on Dec. 25, officials acknowledged. A senior Republican lawmaker said the reversal of the 2004 decision was a missed opportunity to keep him out of the country. The decision to overrule the visa denial was one of a series of events that preceded Abdulmutallab's arrest in connection with an alleged Christmas Day attempt to destroy the plane with a bomb. In January, the Obama administration released a review of the case that outlined a number of missteps but did not include any reference to the visa denial....

LA Times: Al Qaeda and its affiliates have adapted their tactics to emphasize speed and probability of success over spectacle, U.S. intelligence officials believe, a shift in strategy that poses problems for spy agencies that were reorganized in recent years to stop large-scale attacks like those of Sept. 11, 2001. The new emphasis is seen as a significant departure for a terrorist network that had focused on sophisticated plots involving synchronized strikes on multiple targets, and teams of operatives coordinating across international borders. An examination of recent plots, including the bombing attempt on a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day, has convinced U.S. counter-terrorism analysts that Al Qaeda is becoming more opportunistic, using fewer operatives and dramatically shrinking the amount of planning and preparation that goes into an attack. In interviews and public testimony, U.S. officials have voiced concern that though the more modest schemes are less lik...

Headline on an Eli Lake story in the Washington Times: U.S. hunts for English-speaking bombers U.S. and allied counterterrorism authorities have launched a global manhunt for English-speaking terrorists trained in Yemen who are planning attacks on the United States, based on intelligence provided by the suspect in the attempted Christmas Day bombing after he began cooperating. U.S. officials told The Washington Times that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, facing charges as a would-be suicide bomber, revealed during recent cooperation with the FBI that he met with other English speakers at a terrorist training camp in Yemen. Three U.S. intelligence officials, including one senior official, disclosed on the condition of anonymity some details of the additional bomb plots. Said one official: "It's safe to say that Abdulmutallab is not the only bullet in the chamber for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula," the Islamist terrorist group based in Yemen. "Farouk took a month to g...

An old prosecutor argues his case pretty well.

Michael Mukasey: ... When Abdulmutallab tried to detonate a bomb concealed in his undershorts, he committed a crime; no doubt about that. He could not have acted alone; no doubt about that either. The bomb was not the sort of infernal device readily produced by someone of his background, and he quickly confirmed that he had been trained and sent by al-Qaeda in Yemen . What to do and who should do it? It was entirely reasonable for the FBI to be contacted and for that agency to take him into custody. But contrary to what some in government have suggested, that Abdulmutallab was taken into custody by the FBI did not mean, legally or as a matter of policy, that he had to be treated as a criminal defendant at any point. Consider: In 1942, German saboteurs landed on Long Island and in Florida. That they were eventually captured by the FBI did not stop President Franklin Roosevelt from directing that they be treated as unlawful enemy combatants. They were ultimately tried before a militar...

Ralph Peters: ... * The administration claims Abdulmutallab is now cooperating . That's either dishonest or idiotic -- or both. If he is cooperating, jeez, you don't tell the terrorists. Why on earth leak it that the guy's blabbing, thus warning the enemy? Could the administration -- just possibly -- be playing politics? * Even if he's talking now, Abdulmutallab won't provide actionable intelligence . It's too late: His contacts had time to vacate the premises and alter their modes of operation. The best information that a low-level operative like the Jockey-shorts jerk possesses is highly perishable -- the captive isn't privy to long-term plans, just the immediate details of his mission and a few basic contacts. Information that might have been valuable on Dec. 26 may be worthless by Jan. 26. Yet, in that critical early window we convinced Abdulmutallab to clam up -- thanks to the folly of treating him to a lawyer. In the intelligence world, where I...

Byron York: On Capitol Hill, there's a war being fought over the War on Terror, and so far, Republicans are winning. Or at least they're winning the Battle of Miranda. GOP lawmakers believe they are having some success in the effort to stiffen the spine of the Obama administration as it makes policy for dealing with captured terrorist suspects in the future. Even as the administration defends its decision to grant accused Detroit bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab the right to remain silent, the president himself is hinting that things might be done differently in the future. "Should the practice of reading suspected terrorist their Miranda rights be reviewed?" CBS's Katie Couric asked President Obama during Sunday's Super Bowl interview. "Absolutely," Obama answered. "Everything should be reviewed." "It's important for us to recognize," Obama explained, "that when we're dealing with al Qaeda operatives, that they ...

Washington Post: In the past six weeks, Americans have witnessed two jarringly different -- but completely accurate -- views of al-Qaeda's terrorist network. One image was that of terrorist leaders being hunted down and killed by satellite-guided, pilotless aircraft. The other was of an agile foe slipping past U.S. defenses and increasingly intent on striking inside this country. New assessments of al-Qaeda by the top U.S. counterterrorism experts offer grounds for both optimism and concern a year after President Obama took office. Officials say al-Qaeda's ability to wage mass-casualty terrorism has been undercut by relentless U.S. attacks on the network's leadership, finances and training camps. But even in its weakened state, the group has shifted tactics to focus on small-scale operations that are far harder to detect and disrupt, analysts say. The deadly November shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Tex., and the failed Christmas Day attempt to bomb an airliner -- both ...

Byron York: Republican lawmakers are denying a charge made by top White House counterterrorism official John Brennan that they were briefed about -- and did not object to -- the decision to offer full American constitutional rights to accused Detroit bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. On "Meet the Press," Brennan said that on Christmas night, just hours after Abdulmutallab tried to blow up Northwest Airlines flight 253, Brennan called GOP Senators Mitch McConnell and Christopher Bond, as well as Republican Representatives John Boehner and Peter Hoekstra, and told them that Abdulmutallab was in FBI custody. "None of those individuals raised any concerns with me at that point," Brennan said. "They didn't say, Is he going into military custody? Is he going to be Mirandized?" Each of the lawmakers strongly denies Brennan's account. A spokesman for McConnell says, "During a brief call from the White House, Sen. McConnell was given a heads up that...

Andrea Sachs, Washington Post: A real inspector would have focused on the powdered substance hiding in my bra, the box cutter tucked into my tights and the plastic-explosive material snuggling inside my dress pocket. But because I was too close to the subject under scrutiny, I fixated on the position of my bellybutton: How strange that it sits so high up on my torso. Get over yourself, honey: The full-body scanning machines at airport security checkpoints weren't created to point out corporeal flaws but to detect suspicious objects lurking beneath airline passengers' clothing. The advanced imaging technology identifies forms that aren't traditionally part of the human physique, such as an oval mound on the hip that could be a potential bomb, or a pen shape near the ankle that might be a knife. Since I hadn't harbored any contraband in my navel, there was no cause for alarm. Yet in a broader context, plenty of people are alarmed. The machines have sparked an electric ...

Washington Post: Senior White House officials are mounting an aggressive campaign to defend their handling of terrorism suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, mapping out their successful efforts to gain his cooperation -- and noting that his treatment has been similar to that of suspects captured during the Bush administration. ... Republicans have accused the Obama administration of treating him too lightly and failing to make the most of his arrest, first by reading him his rights and then granting him civilian legal counsel. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) devoted last week's radio response to the subject, saying the White House has a "blind spot" when it comes to terrorism -- and alleging that investigators had spent less than an hour questioning Abdulmutallab. In a follow-up statement Wednesday, Collins added that reports of a plea deal is in the works suggests the Obama administration is granting him a "measure of leniency." Administration officials corrobora...

Stephen Hayes: The White House yesterday leaked the news that the Christmas Day bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, had begun cooperating with FBI interrogators last week. The Washington press corps quickly declared victory for the Obama administration and suggested that the news vindicated the decision to read Abdulmutallab his Miranda rights just 10 hours after he was detained and after just 50 minutes of questioning. It's good news that Abdulmutallab is talking. But he started talking five weeks after the attack. Intelligence is perishable. The U.S. government passed on an opportunity to interrogate him at a time when his al Qaeda sponsors in Yemen probably thought he was incapable of talking. And the the fact that he is cooperating now should not obscure the gross mishandling of the incident by the Obama administration. For those capable of looking beyond the White House spin, the hearing yesterday raised more troubling questions than it answered. *For days the Obama administrat...

Bloomberg: Republicans say they see weakness in President Barack Obama ’s approach to fighting terrorism -- and a winning issue for themselves in the November congressional elections. While Republicans have criticized Obama’s national-security policies since he took office, the intensity has picked up in recent weeks. They have focused on the administration’s handling of the attempted Christmas bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight and the government’s plans to try terrorism suspects in civilian courts. In the last month alone, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee , Jeff Sessions of Alabama, issued at least 15 statements assailing Obama’s policies for combating terrorism . He said Democrats can expect more of the same as the elections approach. If Obama and his administration “persist in the arguments they’re making, which are n...

Thomas Joscelyn: As Stephen F. Hayes has thoroughly documented , there is much U.S. officials should be asking Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab about. Abdulmutallab was mirandized shortly after his arrest, however, and decided to stop talking. He has provided, at most, limited cooperation since then, prompting administration officials to claim that the FBI got everything that was needed in just 50 minutes . That is implausible for a variety of reasons. But here is one more topic for the interrogation that should have been: What does Abdulmutallab know about the Americans (including ex-convicts) al Qaeda has recruited? In a report released late last month, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee informed the American people (emphasis added): Law enforcement and intelligence officials told the Committee staff in interviews in December in Yemen and other countries in the region that as many as 36 American ex-convicts arrived in Yemen in the past year, ostensibly to study A...

LA Times: The decision to advise the accused Christmas Day attacker of his right to remain silent was made after teleconferences involving at least four government agencies -- and only after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had stopped talking to authorities, according to knowledgeable law enforcement officials. Among those involved in the hastily called teleconferences were representatives from the Justice Department and the FBI, along with officials from the State Department and the CIA. "It was a [law enforcement] community-wide conference, and they discussed a number of things," one source said on condition of anonymity. "That's when decisions were made on which course was going to proceed, to Mirandize him or otherwise." The source said that Abdulmutallab was not read his rights until he made it clear that he was not going to say anything else. Other government sources, also speaking anonymously, provided new details about what happened after Northwest Airlines Fl...

Times: Twelve men arrested in Malaysia this month for alleged terrorist offences had connections to the Nigerian student accused of attempting to blow up a US passenger aircraft on Christmas Day, according to a report from Kuala Lumpur. The Malaysian Home Minister, Hishamuddin Hussein, refused to confirm the report in the New Straits Times , a newspaper which follows the lead of the Government. He insisted however that the detained men, who were arrested eight days ago at a gathering of Muslims in Kuala Lumpur, were “a serious security threat to the country”. They included at least one Malaysian, four Syrians, one Yemeni, one Jordanian and two Nigerians, and are being held under Malaysia’s Internal Security Act (ISA). Under the Act suspects can be detained indefinitely without charge or trial. Mr Hishamuddin said that the arrests were part of a broader international terrorist investigation, although he stopped short of confirming the report in the New Straits Times that they were m...

Eli Lake: The leaders of a commission that investigated failures related to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks told a Senate panel Tuesday the Obama administration mishandled the interrogation of the failed Christmas Day airline bomber. Former Gov. Thomas H. Keane, New Jersey Republican, and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, Indiana Democrat, said U.S. intelligence agencies should have been consulted before the bombing suspect, Nigerian national Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was granted constitutional protections under U.S. law, known as Miranda rights, and initially stopped talking to investigators. The criticism from two of Washington's respected former government officials comes as a bipartisan panel on Tuesday gave the Obama administration a failing grade for its efforts to date to prepare for and respond to biological-weapon terrorist attacks. Mr. Abdulmutallab, who is now in custody, was interrogated for 50 minutes after he was pulled off of a Northwest Airlines flight after he purp...

Byron York: A bipartisan revolt is brewing in the Senate over the Obama administration's handling of accused Detroit bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. A small but growing number of lawmakers is asking the president to undo what many regard as the disastrously wrong-headed decision to grant Abdulmutallab full American constitutional rights. Once he was told he had the right to remain silent, the accused terrorist stopped talking to U.S. investigators, possibly denying them valuable intelligence about the threat from al Qaeda. The revolt started last week when top administration counterterrorism officials testified they had not been consulted about the decision to read Abdulmutallab the Miranda warning and give him a court-appointed lawyer. Several senators were aghast, including Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman, the committee's ranking Republican Susan Collins, and the Judiciary Committee's ranking Republican Jeff Sessions. How could the Justice Depart...