SATURDAY,  DECEMBER 26,  2009

CHARGED – AT 8:44 P.M. ET:  The oppressed and alienated person, who, by the way, lived in a London mansion, has been formally charged.  From Fox:

A federal judge has told a Nigerian man that he is charged with trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane on Christmas Day.

U.S. District Judge Paul Borman read 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab his charges in a conference room on Saturday at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, where he is being treated for burns.

Agents brought Abdulmutallab into the room in a wheelchair. He had a blanket over his lap and wore a green hospital robe.

The judge asked Abdulmutallab if he understood the charges against him. He responded in English: "Yes, I do."

Reportedly, this victim of society also told the judge that he can't afford a lawyer, despite his family's wealth.  Oh boy.  Now watch all the usual suspects with law degrees fall over themselves to defend this bird. 

There's also more detail on the device used in the bombing attempt:

Preliminary FBI analysis found that the device contained PETN, also known as pentaerythritol, a highly explosive device. FBI agents recovered what appear to be the remnants of the syringe from the vicinity of Abdulmutallab's seat, believed to have been part of the device.

Acted alone, acted alone!  Repeat that three times.  Why, everyone knows how to use PETN.  Can't you get it at Stop 'n Shop?

And the nation's chief lawyer speaks out, unfortunately:

"This alleged attack on a U.S. airplane on Christmas Day shows that we must remain vigilant in the fight against terrorism at all times," Attorney General Eric Holder said.

Brilliant insight.  Just brilliant.

"Had this alleged plot to destroy an airplane been successful, scores of innocent people would have been killed or injured. We will continue to investigate this matter vigorously, and we will use all measures available to our government to ensure that anyone responsible for this attempted attack is brought to justice."

Oh, groan.  Brought to justice.  Escort 'em to the courthouse.  Read 'em their Miranda rights.  Ah, it's wonderful to be back in the Clinton era. 

Can you imagine FDR, on the day after Pearl Harbor, saying to Congress, "Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – a serious violation of the law occurred in our territory of Hawaii."

Sure, Eric, bring 'em to justice...unless other branches of the government get to them first in a more clear-cut manner.

December 26, 2009   Permalink 

BRITS ON THE CASE – AT 7:18 P.M. ET:  No sooner is it revealed that the airline bomber attended London University – and not as a soccer cheerleader – that Brit reporters are on the case.  Here, London's Telegraph reveals what goes on at that institution of lower learning:

American public opinion will be quick to seize on this incident as yet more evidence that British universities, especially those based in the capital, are the natural habitat of potentially dangerous extremists.

As the Telegraph reported in September, the British authorities are still pursuing charges against Waheed Zaman, the former president of the Islamic Society at London Metropolitan University, whose trial for conspiracy for murder ended in a hung jury at Woolwich Crown Court.

And the beat goes on:

A Telegraph report three years ago established that London Metropolitan University had been extremely careless, to put it mildly, about providing facilities for jihadists.

More beats:

Earlier this month, Queen Mary college at London University was forced to withdraw an invitation to a spokesman for the Islamist group Hitzb ut Tahrir to address students.

Meanwhile, London University’s School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS) continues to attract accusations that it provides a platform for extremists.

Finally:

I’m not accusing the university’s governing body of sympathising with terrorists, but many of its academics are knee-jerk anti-Americans who are more worried about causing offence to Muslim students than in keeping a watchful eye on political extremism. (SOAS is particularly shameless in this respect.) If, as seems likely, the Detroit incident is an example of a London University alumnus involved in Islamist terrorism, I bet you it isn’t the last.

COMMENT:  Very brave of this British writer to write that column.  It won't get him any party invitations from the London elite, but it will get him respect from people who admire decency.

December 26, 2009   Permalink

YES SIREE, THEY'RE YEMENI – AT 6:52 P.M. ET:  ABC News is reporting the Yemeni connection to the airline bombing attempt:

The plot to blow up an American passenger jet over Detroit was organized and launched by al Qaeda leaders in Yemen who apparently sewed bomb materials into the suspect's underwear before sending him on his mission, federal authorities tell ABC News.

Please note that Yemen is where the USS Cole was attacked in the year 2000.  Some 17 American sailors were killed when a hole was blown in the port side of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

Investigators say the suspect had more than 80 grams of PETN, a compound related to nitro-glycerin used by the military. The so-called shoe bomber, Richard Reid, had only about 50 grams kin his failed attempt in 2001 to blow up a U.S.-bound jet. Yesterday's bomb failed because the detonator may have been too small or was not in "proper contact" with the explosive material, investigators told ABC News.

Investigators say the suspect, Abdul Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian student whose birthday was last Tuesday, has provided detailed information about his recruitment and training for what was supposed to be a Christmas Day suicide attack.

It will be interesting to see how the appeasement crowd in the president's party handles this one.  It's apparent that Al Qaeda now has a powerful presence in Yemen, and that it's making a strong statement.

December 26, 2009   Permalink

QUOTE OF THE DAY - ON BARACK OBAMA - AT 12:31 P.M. ET:  From Dan Henninger at The Wall Street Journal:

Harry Reid's Senate had just secured its 60th vote for Mr. Obama's health-care reform. Whatever one's view, its trillion-dollar-plus cost is an agreed given. Days earlier the public saw Congress vote to raise the debt ceiling by almost $290 billion to make room for the needs of the $800 billion stimulus bill, the unprecedented $3.5 trillion budget, and the House's approval Dec. 16 of a new $154 billion jobs bill. Amid this President Obama said Monday: "We can't continue to spend . . . as if the hard-earned tax dollars of the American people can be treated like Monopoly money."

From the Wizard of Oz to Tiger Woods, the greatest danger to grand men is feet of clay. There are varieties of clay. For the politician known as Obama it is that, if he is shown to be a cynic, he is finished. "Monopoly money" was an everyone-agrees-with-me remark. But to everyone, it was simply fantastic.

The American people took a flyer on Barack Obama. If they conclude Obama is just the name of another lesser god, his fall could come as fast as his rise.

COMMENT:  Next year, 2010, may well be Obama's decisive year.  The honeymoon is over.  Obama must produce, not just for his political base, but for the great majority of Americans.

Kennedy, whose first year was disastrous in foreign policy, saved himself in his second year by a new toughness, and by succeeding, more or less, at the Cuban Missile Crisis, a crisis brought about because Khrushchev had perceived the young president as weak.  Obama has been doing some chest thumping recently.  Is he pulling a JFK, or just posturing before going back to his little red book?  We'll start to find out the week after next.

December 26, 2009   Permalink 

AIRLINER - FASCINATING UPDATE - AT 11:03 A.M. ET:  Well, well, well, it seems that the dear, deprived, and no doubt oppressed terrorist who tried to blow up an airliner near Detroit yesterday has a most interesting background.  Welcome to our version of "This is Your Life," from The Politico:

The man suspected of trying to blow up a Northwest flight from Amsterdam to Detroit is the son of a Nigerian bank chairman and former oil minister, Nigerian press outlets reported Saturday.

Oh the poor baby.  Now we understand why he wanted to blow up a plane.  Poverty stricken.  Kept down by the capitalist warmongers and the Christian crusaders.  A young boy crying out for help against the jack-booted establishment.  Are you weeping for him?  Are you sending money to his defense fund?  Get those checkbooks out.  The ACLU's appeal is in the mail. 

Nigerian daily This Day reported that the suspect, Abdul Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab, 23, is the son of a former head of Nigeria's First Bank PLC, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab. The elder Mutallab, who is a prominent businessman in Nigeria, resigned this month as head of the bank. His former government role is unclear but he also once headed the Nigerian-Arab Chamber of Commerce. The reported family tie may have originated at another Nigerian news site, Huhuonline.com.

Also of note: the suspect's mother or stepmother is from Yemen, according to the paper. Abdulmutallab reportedly told U.S. investigators that he traveled to Yemen, where he obtained the explosive device he was wearing and carrying on the flight yesterday.

Acted alone, acted alone, acted alone.  Memorize that.  Pop quiz in the morning.

And get this naughty bit:

The newspaper says the father, 70, recently grew "uncomfortable with the boy's extreme religious views and had six months ago reported his activities to the United States Embassy and Nigerian security agencies."

Investigators will surely be tracing those alleged contacts and trying to figure out why Abdulmutallab was, according to reports, not placed on a no-fly list or subjected to extra scrutiny before traveling to the U.S.

COMMENT:  Yeah, I think we'd like to know.  Once again there are indications - no proof yet, but indications - that our security is pre 9-11.

On the wealth issue, please recall that Osama bin Laden is also fabulously rich.  We've got to stop the oppression of Muslim millionaires that leads them into terrorism.

December 26, 2009   Permalink 

AND IN IRAN - AT 10:51 A.M. ET:  We have urged readers to watch Iran closely.  The only alternative to a military strike may well be regime change.  Can it happen?  Can the dissidents win?  That's what we're following:

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iranian security forces beat protesters in central Tehran on Saturday, a sign of mounting tensions ahead of planned opposition rallies to mark a religious festival and the death of a dissident cleric a week ago, a reformist Web site said.

The Rah-e-Sabz site said forces, including the elite Revolutionary Guard and the paramilitary Basijis, used tear gas and pepper spray in an attempt to disperse demonstrators, and broke the windows of cars that were honking horns in protest.

It said protests occurred in at least three areas: Imam Hossein Square, Pol-e-Choobi and Ferdowsi Square.

The report could not be independently confirmed because the Iranian government has banned foreign media from covering opposition protests.

Iran is marking the first 10 days of the Islamic month of Moharram, a time of mourning rituals for a revered Shiite saint.

The period culminates Sunday with Ashoura -- a day that coincides with the seventh day since the death of Iran's most senior dissident cleric, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri. More memorials and possible protests are expected.

COMMENT:  And still there is no reaction from Washington.  We need to help the dissidents in any way we can - including money, if needed.  I've been in touch with thoughtful, rational people who believe that the mullah regime is on its last legs, and can be brought down.  Some informed sources say that March is a critical month.  They make the point that it took months of agitation to bring down the shah in the 1970s. 

December 26, 2009   Permalink

THE AIRLINER STORY - AT 10:18 A.M. ET:  From Fox:

Congressional lawmakers are calling the attempted terrorist attack at a Detroit airport "disturbing" and "extremely serious," with at least one senator pledging to hold hearings, as authorities moved to increase security in response at U.S. airports over the Christmas weekend.

An airline passenger, who claimed to have ties to Al Qaeda, was subdued Friday after he tried to ignite a powdery substance just before landing in Detroit, sources told FOX News.

The White House and lawmakers are calling it an attempted act of terrorism. The passenger, one of 278 passengers flying from Amsterdam to Detroit, is now in custody, according to a statement from the Transportation Security Administration.

Reflecting the severity of the incident, a number of lawmakers were tracked down on Christmas Day to be briefed on the incident. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., House Minority Leader John Boehner and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, were among them.

Collins, ranking Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, released a written statement questioning how the passenger was allowed on board and what the TSA can do to prevent such an incident from reoccurring.

And...

King, the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, said Mutallab "definitely has connections" to Al Qaeda.

King said Mutallab was not on any "no-fly list," but one source familiar with the investigation said the suspect did come up in another federal database after authorities checked his name on Friday.

COMMENT:  The administration has acted correctly, especially in bringing Republicans into the situation.  A little more bipartisanship like this would have helped in other areas.

Of course, the usual suspects are starting with the "he probably acted alone" stuff, but, given the alleged  perpetrator's foreign adventures, that doesn't seem very likely.  Even if he decided on this one act on his own, he clearly has been influenced by the "brothers" abroad.

December 26,  2009     Permalink

FRIDAY,  DECEMBER 25,  2009

FURTHER TERROR UPDATE - AT 7:58 P.M. ET:  Both Fox and CNN are now live with continuous coverage of the attempt to blow up a Delta/Northwest (now the same company) airliner.  This is what we know:

1.  The alleged perpetrator was from Nigeria.

2.  He has told interrogators that he was under Al Queda control.  Terror expert Steve Emerson says the man was on a watch list. 

3. The device he tried to set off was sophisticated, and used a kind of detonator we haven't seen in terror incidents before.   Passengers and cabin crew subdued the perpetrator.

4. The device is reported to be from Yemen.  Yemen has emerged as a major center for Al Qaeda activity.  There was a U.S. air strike in Yemen earlier in the week that presumably killed the imam who was in touch with Major Hasan, the Fort Hood shooter.

5. The attempt to bring down the plane, according to a passenger on board, occurred on the approach to Detroit.  The flight originated in Amsterdam.

6. There are no reports of other attempts on airliners today, but airport and airline security is being beefed up.

Stand by.

UPDATE:  Fox has now gone back to regular programming - repeats of "The O'Reilly Factor," whereas CNN is continuing live coverage of the terror incident.  I don't get that news call from Fox.  It's not like them.

December 25, 2009   Permalink

TERROR UPDATE - AT 7:04 P.M. ET:   A White House official is quoted by Fox as saying the incident aboard the Delta flight today (see below) was an attempted act of terrorism, and that the president is monitoring the situation closely.

Congressman Pete King (R-NY) is saying that the Nigerian perpetrator suffered third-degree burns, and that the device he attempted to set off was "fairly sophisticated."  He also is saying that the detonator was different from what we've encountered before.

Stand by.

December 25,  2009   Permalink

FURTHER BULLETIN - AT 5:37 P.M. ET:  Here is the NBC News report on the airliner incident that we're following, related to the two stories just below:

A 23-year-old Nigerian man tried to light a powdery substance aboard a Northwest Airlines flight before landing in Detroit on Friday, a senior U.S. counterterrorism official told NBC News.

Two people noticed the attempt and a third person jumped on the man and subdued him, an airline official told NBC News.

The man is being treated at the burn unit of the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, officials said.

COMMENT:  The issue, of course, is whether this man acted alone, is the only one to plan such an act today, or whether there are more.  You can be sure that this is what counterterrorism people are focusing on right now.

December 25, 2009   Permalink

BULLETIN - AT 5:24 P.M. ET:  Relating to the story just below, the incident aboard the Delta airliner may - repeat may - have been more serious than originally thought.  Fox reports:

A male passenger reportedly linked to terrorist organization al-Qaeda ignited a powdery substance prior to landing on a Delta Airlines flight to Detroit Friday. The suspect is believed to be Nigerian, Fox News reported.

Several people were hurt and one person was admitted to the University of Michigan Medical Center at Ann Arbor, hospital spokeswoman Tracy Justice said. An emergency was declared aboard the flight, operated as Northwest flight 253, according to a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson.

The suspect, who suffered second-degree burns, told federal investigators he was directed by al-Qaeda, though authorities are questioning the veracity of that statement, ABC reported. A federal situational awareness bulletin noted that the explosive was acquired in Yemen with instructions as to when it should be used, ABC said.

COMMENT:  We will follow this very closely.  It may well be that the guy was just engaging in bravado when he mentioned al-Qaeda.  HOWEVER, we have seen incident after incident where the "authorities" deny at first that an event is terror-related, the better to be politically correct, and then later have to crawl under a rock when the truth comes out.  Witness Fort Hood.

The fact that a bulletin has been put out noting that the explosive was acquired in Yemen should alert us all.  Blowing up an airliner on Christmas day is what al-Qaeda is about.   This story may grow.

December 25, 2009   Permalink

WELCOME TO DETROIT - AT 3:43 A.M. ET:  Another example of the sheer quality and skill of our dauntless airline security:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Delta Airlines official says a passenger aboard a plane at Detroit Metropolitan Airport set off firecrackers aboard the plane, causing a commotion and some minor injuries.

Delta spokeswoman Susan Elliott says Delta Flight 253, an Airbus 330 carrying 278 passengers, was arriving in Detroit from Amsterdam when the incident took place Friday afternoon.

Elliott says the passenger was immediately subdued. She had no details on injuries.

COMMENT:  Look, it's Detroit, so it was only normal background noise.  But the fact is that a passenger got on board with explosives.  Had it been C4, the plane could have been blown to bits over the Atlantic, and sunk in the ocean.

December 25, 2009   Permalink

TAKE THAT, PAGANS - AT 11:57 A.M. ET:  Via my friend Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit, from Britain's Telegraph:

Pagan worshippers, who braved freezing dawn temperatures to celebrate the winter solstice at Stonehenge, were dismayed to discover they had turned up on the wrong day.

A crowd of around 300 people, wearing traditional costume, met at the mystical stone circle on Monday morning to mark the rising of the sun on the shortest day of the year.

But unfortunately their calculations were slightly out meaning they had in fact arrived 24 hours prematurely.

Well, look, it's pagan math.  It's all relative.  Everyone has his own narrative.  Who are we to question?

However hundreds of enthusiastic revellers, who arrived at Stonehenge before dawn yesterday, decided to celebrate anyway.

Now that's the pagan spirit.  Happy Winter Solstice, Day Before!

Pagan leader Arthur Pendragon said: "It is the most important day of the year for us because it welcomes in the new sun. There were hundreds of people there. If we'd celebrated on the 21st it would have been the right day but the wrong sun – when the whole point of the occasion is about welcoming in the new sun.

Yeah well, sure, of course.  Everyone knows that.

"I did about three handfasting ceremonies, which are pagan marriages, and we've said prayers for world peace. It's a new beginning."

I wonder what they call a pagan divorce?  A handslapping?  A back of the hand?

Oh, never mind.  Merry Christmas.

December 25, 2009   Permalink

IRAN ON DECK - AT 10:51 A.M. ET:  Even as we celebrate the holidays, plans are being made for the next great foreign-policy challenge, the confrontation with Iran.  And the question is being asked:  Will Obama fold?  From The Hill:

Iran's refusal to accept a nuclear deal by the end of the year is setting up a major foreign policy test for both President Barack Obama and Congress.

Just after passing the historic healthcare reform legislation that has consumed the Senate's attention, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) stressed Thursday that he wants to bring sanctions legislation to a vote when lawmakers return from the Christmas and New Year's break in January.

Well, Harry and Urgent Agenda found something to agree on.

There has been no indication that the administration would use force against Iran's nuclear facilities as the White House has clearly favored the diplomatic route from Day One. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen reiterated that this week when he said military action would be of limited use in stopping Iran's "determined pursuit of nuclear weapons."

And that is the problem.  When you appear to take your strongest option off the table, you flash weakness, and your enemy has little incentive to make concessions.  The Iranians know that it's unlikely we can muster the needed support from China and Russia for painful sanctions.

Israel, however, has hinted at preemptive airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities as a last resort, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made the Iranian threat a priority in his talks with Washington.

But will Israel strike without our approval?  Highly unlikely.  The Israelis are suspicious enough about this administration, and might fear that they, not the Iranian machine, might be made to look like the villains after an attack.  Also, Israel's ability to carry out the kind of sustained attack needed to do real damage in Iran is limited. 

A Rasmussen Reports survey released Wednesday found 67 percent of respondents saying that the U.N. has not been aggressive enough in response to Iran's nuclear program, with half of all those polled saying the U.S. should help Israel if it decides to attack Iran.

There is frustration on the Republican side with the pace of things:

As in the House, the Senate sanctions are likely to have heavy bipartisan support, even as Republicans have expressed frustration with what they view as too-light pressure by the administration on the Islamic Republic.

"We've wasted a year," Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Monday on ABC's "Good Morning America." "Sanctions have to be tried before we explore the last option. The worst option is a military action."

COMMENT:  Unless something surprising intervenes, Iran will be the biggest foreign-policy story in 2010, even bigger than the surge in Afghanistan. 

One of the worst outcomes is the one most likely - some kind of fig-leaf deal with Iran that the president can wave before us, Neville-like, but which would do little to slow down the Iranian nuclear program.  Already there are those in Washington speaking confidently of our ability to "deter" a nuclear-armed Iran.  I don't share their confidence.  Deterring the current Iranian regime is like deterring Japanese kamikazes.  Those sworn to madness usually carry it out.

The best outcome is regime change, and we should do all we can to encourage that by clandestine assistance to the democracy forces in Iran, something Michael Ledeen has been advocating for years.

December 25, 2009   Permalink

HO HO HO - AT 10:03 A.M. ET:  Merry Christmas to all.  (Will I be arrested for saying that?)  Several Christmas gifts have already arrived:

1. The US Senate has done its pale Santa Claus imitation and brought gifts aplenty in the guise of health-care "reform."  Oh, wait.  To be on this santa's list you must be a resident of certain states represented by senators whose last-minute votes were needed to pass the "reform" measure.  Okay, okay.  It isn't exactly the spirit of Christmas, but it's the best the Senate can do.

2.  Senator John Kerry has gifted us all by announcing that, contrary to an earlier report, he is not going to Tehran.  In an ecumenical spirit, this is also a gift to Tehran as well.

3.  The Copenhagen hot-air, or, er, climate-change conference, has given us a major Christmas gift by failing.  This gang of leftists, who reserved their greatest cheers for Hugo Chavez, use climate change as a cover for their socialist agenda.  Like most socialists, they couldn't get anything serious done, a gift to us all.

4.  The president has given us a temporary gift by jetting off to Hawaii and getting himself out of microphone range for a few days.  For at least a brief period we won't have to hear the word "unprecedented" used by the orator-in-chief.

5.  And, finally, the Pentagon has given a huge Christmas gift to those wanting to destroy military morale.  As CNN reports:

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. military has dropped a controversial rule that called for punishing soldiers in northern Iraq for becoming pregnant or impregnating another soldier.

The updated policy "does not include a pregnancy provision," said Maj. Joe Scrocca, spokesman for U.S. Forces-Iraq.

The rule was entirely sensible, and not very controversial, except for a few radical feminists on the down-with-America fringe left, and their allies in the Senate.  And that's all that was needed.  The officer who wrote the rule, Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo, commander of our forces in northern Iraq, might as well retire.  His career is over.  Mature adult Mona Charen comments on the respected military ethos that guided Gen. Cucolo's order:

That ethos -- and forgetful senators can look it up -- includes the following creed: "I am a Warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values. I will always place the mission first."

Our enemies must be laughing their heads off.  A general treats women and men under his command as responsible adults, and the P.C. crowd demands they be treated like children...and wins.  Merry Christmas, kids.

And so there were gifts this Christmas.  The political class always provides them.  But that class always provides us another great gift...the gift of laughter.  Enjoy it while we can.

I'm sure the gifts in your homes were a lot more thoughtful.

December 25,  2009   Permalink