THE PLOT DEEPENS – AT 8:09 A.M. ET:  More detail is coming out on the airline bomber's actions before Christmas day.  From AP:

LAGOS, Nigeria — A Nigerian official says the man accused of trying to bring down a U.S. airliner bought his ticket with cash in Ghana eight days before the flight departed Nigeria.

Harold Demuren, the head of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, says Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's ticket came from a KLM office in Accra, Ghana. Demuren said Monday that Abdulmutallab bought the $2,831 round-trip ticket from Lagos, Nigeria, to Detroit via Amsterdam on Dec. 16.

Demuren declined to comment about Abdulmutallab's travels in the days before he boarded his Dec. 24 flight from Lagos to Detroit via Amsterdam, saying FBI agents and Nigerian officials view the information as "sensitive." He says Abdulmutallab checked into his flight with only a small carryon bag.

COMMENT:  So, let's see:  This poor, oppressed man – an obvious victim of American imperialism, capitalism, and NBC programming – buys an expensive ticket, in cash, in a country not his own, then boards an airliner for a long trip...without any luggage. 

And no one noticed, or cared to notice.  Buying tickets in cash, and boarding without luggage, are two of the most prominent red flags in civil aviation. 

Unbelievable.

December 28, 2009