By: John ShafferFriday January 8, 2010
The failed attempt by "underwear bomber" Abdulmutallab caused waves of change. It reminded those whose mind-set had long ago receded to the days before September 11, 2001 that there are people out there who are committed to our destruction. It shows that al-qaeda is patient, clever and able to adapt to circumstances. The attack "failed," but it should have been "foiled" - there were plenty of reasons, known to officials, for preventing Abdulmutallab from ever getting on that plane in Nigeria or in the Netherlands.
It contradicts the liberal myth that "poverty breeds terrorism," as Abdulmutallab comes from a world of wealth, privilege and prestigious higher education, similar to Osama Bin Laden himself and most of the prominent Jihadists. Most importantly, it has caused waves of change in the Obama administration - leaving the President with no choice but to declare that the system failed - in contrast to the initial reaction of his Press Secretary and his Homeland Security Secretary; compelled a halt to the transfer of prisoners from Guantanamo to Yemen; convinced them to begin stricter security measures for air travelers from more than a dozen Jihadist or terrorist "hot spot nations" around the world (a step that should have been taken years ago) - perhaps this is the first step in - dare we say it - profiling as to nation of origin etc.; and forced a review of security procedures in general.
Despite the pathetic contention of President Obama's counter-terrorism advisor John Brennan (the same Mr. Brennan who has been accused prevented the killing of Osama Bin Laden during the Clinton administration) that there was no "single smoking gun," the President has said there were plenty of "red flags," that the intelligence that had been collected was not interpreted or integrated properly. The President all but said that there should be "no walls" between the intelligence agencies - a wall that was constructed by Clinton Administration official Jamie Gorelick during those pre-9-11 days. The President should declare that any and all walls are down.
The President has said many things in the past 36 hours that sounded so "Bush-like" that Senator Obama or Candidate Obama would have been loudly complaining about them two years ago - but we are pleased that he has changed his outlook and we hope that the policies of his administration also change to reflect the reality that he had been denying or underplaying for so long. Now if we can shift the mindset to worrying more about Jihadists than about weapons.
That one little letter that changes "failed" to "foiled" is very significant. This story should have been that a terrorist, laden with explosives, was caught boarding a plane in Nigeria. Instead, it was the incompetence or bad luck of the terrorist himself and the quick-thinking and bravery of the passengers who subdued him caused the plot to fail; just as the passengers on United Flight 93 rose up on September 11, 2001 and caused their plane to crash into Pennsylvania instead of into the Capitol. We hope that this case causes a dramatic change in the government and the bureaucracy to make safety and security the prime concern, not political correctness, ideology or bureaucratic turf wars.
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