Abdulmutallab and al-Qaida apparently chose to attack Detroit at random, a White House intelligence briefing revealed last week. “There is no evidence that Detroit was systematically targeted. It was just one of several options the bomber suspect had,” says Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Brighton). Congressional hearings on the Abdulmutallab Christmas Day plot will begin next week,…
Critics say Obama’s response to the Christmas Day plot by Abdulmutallab was late and trepid, and analysts believe terrorism has become the Democrats’ and Obama’s central political vulnerability. A senior GOP strategist says the current focus on national security is a challenge for the administration because terrorists are so unpredictable. “It’s driven by events,” he…
While many Western countries have increased their security measures after the attempted terrorist attack on Christmas Day, in some parts, such as in Lower Saxony in Germany, heavy monitoring of mosques and Muslim-frequented cafes is standard police procedure. For years this policy has increasingly outraged German Muslims while failing to yield a single terrorism-related arrest….
MI5 failed to alert US intelligence about the extremist links of the Detroit plane bomber because of concerns about breaching his human rights and privacy. The spy agency withheld its files on Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab from Washington until after the near-catastrophic Christmas Day attack because of guidance from its legal department. Asked why the information…
In the weeks leading up to the Christmas Day attack, Yemen has stated in its fullest disclosure of contact between al-Qaida and Abdulmutallab that he trained with al-Qaida operatives in lawless mountainous regions, and may have met with Anwar al-Awlaki, radical American-Yemeni cleric associated with Major Hasan. The government also claims he received the explosives…
