UPDATED w/Video – Administration In CYA Mode Now: U.S. Has Known for Two Years That Suspect in Plane Attack Could Have Terrorist Ties … While U.K. Cops Search Suspect’s Stomping Grounds
December 26th, 2009 | 
Author: 
The first part of my title is intentional as the Obama Administration now throws up the “Two Years” timeline, as if to deflect possible responsibility onto the Bush Administration. And that would be how? There are many on the terror watch list, yet, what really can be done with them? Round them up and toss them in Gitmo? Those sitting in Gitmo were actually grabbed on battlefields.
I recall the measures the Bush Admin. went through to track and keep a close eye on terror suspects here in the States and abroad … I know because the NYTimes leaked them on the front page as some condemnation of the Bush Admin. inflicting unfair and ‘illegal’ practices on these people. All intel, as with every administration, is passed onto the next administration. It then becomes the new admin.’s responsibility. For as much as Clinton’s administration was culpable in the pre 9/11 attacks, it became the Bush Administration’s responsibility the day he took office and was briefed with all intel info.
The fact is, for as much crap as Bush took for his reaction while reading in front of a group of young grade school children when informed the nation was under possible attack, Ace of Spades is making note of the fact Obama wasn’t informed of the Christmas day terror flight for nearly three hours! And beyond that, also points out how the WaPo is in cover-up mode for that time span:
AoS:
[...] the WaPo editing its story to help Obama a touch.
First the article read:
A White House official said the incident was an attempted act of terrorism. The FBI is investigating and President Obama, celebrating Christmas in Hawaii, was told of the incident about three hours after the plane landed, officials said.
Well, we can’t have Captain Wonderful being mocked like Bush was. So the new sentence:
The FBI is investigating the incident. President Obama, celebrating Christmas in Hawaii, was informed about it, a spokesman said, and he asked his aides to ensure that all measures are in place to provide security for air travel.
Elsewhere in the story they do say…
Obama was alerted to Friday’s incident between 9 and 9:30 a.m. in Hawaii, which is five hours behind the East Coast.
…which still works out to a two to two and a half hour delay in informing the Savior of Man, but now they make you work out the math on your own.
Me: You know what … When the hell is this guy going to finally own his responsibilities that come along with the Oval Office? The ‘kicking-the-responsibility-can-down-the-road-behind’ is real damn old …
FOX:
Authorities Hunt for Clues Behind Foiled Terror Attack on Plane
Police in the U.K. are searching a number of locations in connection with an alleged attempt to blow up a jet carrying 278 people as it landed in Detroit, while authorities meet with a Nigerian banker that may be the father of the suspect.
Multiple law enforcement officials identified the suspect in Friday’s attempted attack as Nigerian national, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab. He was reportedly an engineering student at London’s University College.
U.S. authorities claim he has links to Al Qaeda and are working with London Metropolitan police to search addresses with possible connections to the suspected terror attack.
Former bank official Alhaji Umaru Mutallab says he traveled from his home in the Nigeria’s Muslim-dominated north to meet officials in Abuja, the capital. The elder Mutallab says his son left London to travel, though he did not know where to.
“I believe he might have been to Yemen, but we are investigating to determine that,” Mutallab said.
The suspect’s family is reportedly wealthy and that the apartment he was living in is in an upscale building.
A spokeswoman for Scotland Yard said that U.K. police are in contact with U.S. authorities and that searches are being carried out at addresses in central London.
She refused to confirm the number and location of the searches.
Mutallab was apprehended by fellow passengers and crew on flight 253, from Amsterdam to Detroit yesterday, as he tried to detonate an incendiary device of powder and liquid strapped to his leg. The mixture failed to explode properly but caught fire, leaving him with third degree burns, the London Times reports.
Mutallab has reportedly told investigators he is linked to Al Qaeda and obtained the explosives in Yemen.
An intelligence official said he was being questioned and treated in an Ann Arbor, Mich., hospital. The hospital said one passenger from the flight was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, but referred all inquiries to the FBI.
Melinda Dennis, who was seated in the front row of the plane, said the man involved was brought to the front row and seated near her. She said his legs appeared to be badly burned and his pants were cut off. She said he was taken off the plane handcuffed to a stretcher.
One law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said Mutallab’s name had surfaced earlier on at least one U.S. intelligence database, but he was not on a watch list or a no-fly list.
Abdulmutallab’s alleged U.K. links have also led to heightened security at airports and on all flights to the U.S. from Britain, the London Times reports.
A Department for Transport spokeswoman said, “In response to events in Detroit the US authorities have requested additional measures for U.S.-bound flights.
“We are monitoring the situation and will make any assessments as necessary as this develops.”
Although general airport security remains the same, with no change to luggage and liquid restrictions, passengers travelling to the US can expect increased searches at the gate before boarding.
The incident was reminiscent of Richard Reid, who tried to destroy a trans-Atlantic flight in 2001 with explosives hidden in his shoes, but was subdued by other passengers.
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