Detroit terror incident

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No-Fly List Has Doubled to 21K Since Last Year

New standards imposed after attempted 'underwear bombing'

(Newser) - One year ago, the US no-fly list was at about 10,000 names; today, it has more than doubled to around 21,000. The list has been growing at a quick clip ever since the failed Christmas 2009 "underwear bomber" plot , after which the government lowered the standards required...

Underwear Bomber Changes Plea to Guilty

But is unrepentant, calling jihad one of 'the most virtuous acts'

(Newser) - Today was supposed to be the second day of testimony in the trial of alleged “underwear bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, but instead the 25-year-old Nigerian unexpectedly changed his plea to guilty on all counts, the Detroit Free Press reports. The defiant would-be terrorist read a statement to the court...

Why Underwear Bomber Flew to Detroit: Cheap Fares

Shows break from bin Laden's love of symbolic targets

(Newser) - With 25% of its own residents fleeing Detroit, it might seem like the would-be underwear bomber could have picked a more devastating US target than Motor City. But, as the AP has learned, airplane tickets to considered destinations Chicago or Houston were just too darn expensive, so Umar Farouk...

Look Who Says Bush Was Right on Terror
 Look Who Says Bush 
 Was Right on Terror 
WILLIAM MCGURN

Look Who Says Bush Was Right on Terror

Obama invokes Bush policies as defense in Couric interview

(Newser) - President Obama rolled out a surprising line of defense when Katie Couric quizzed him about civilian trials for terrorists in an interview Sunday, writes William McGurn. "We're not handling any of these cases any different than the Bush administration handled them all through 9/11," Obama insisted. Invoking Bush...

Al-Qaeda Down, Not Out
 Al-Qaeda Down, Not Out 

Al-Qaeda Down, Not Out

Terror group is handicapped but still lethal

(Newser) - The Obama administration has hobbled al-Qaeda, but the group is adapting, shifting its strategy to less ambitious but nevertheless deadly tactics. A relentless assassination campaign executed by Predator drones have killed two leaders and hundreds of foot soldiers in the past 6 months. Meanwhile, efforts to disrupt the group's financing...

Palin: 'Absurd' Not to Consider a Run in 2012


 Palin: 'Absurd' 
 Not to Consider 
 a Run in 2012 
TALK SHOW ROUNDUP

Palin: 'Absurd' Not to Consider a Run in 2012

Ex-gov also thinks Obama should play the 'war card' to get re-elected

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton and Tim Geithner gamely made the talk show rounds today, reports Politico , but the foreign policy and economic views gathering buzz were those being espoused by Sarah Palin over at Fox News Sunday. The onetime would-be veep said it would be "absurd" for her not to consider...

Underwear Bomber Spilling 'Chilling' al-Qaeda Intel

GOP complains FBI's revealing too much about what he's saying

(Newser) - Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is continuing to provide the FBI with vital—and chilling—information now that he's talking, intelligence sources say. Officials say that the underwear bomber, who started cooperating after family members were flown in from Nigeria, has provided details about his al-Qaeda handlers in Yemen. He believes there...

Abdulmutallab Now Cooperating With Feds

Authorities get 'useful, current' info from underwear bomber

(Newser) - The so-called “underwear bomber” is now cooperating with US authorities, who have acted upon the “useful, current” information Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has given them, sources tell Politico . Abdulmutallab is said to have clammed up when he was given his Miranda rights less than an hour into questioning after...

Underwear Bomber's Treatment a Travesty
 Underwear Bomber's 
 Treatment a Travesty 
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER

Underwear Bomber's Treatment a Travesty

Detroit suspect read Miranda rights without counter-terror chiefs' approval

(Newser) - Charles Krauthammer finds the Obama administration's handling of accused bomb plotter Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab more scandalous with every new bit of information that emerges. The Justice Department decided to read the underwear bomber his Miranda rights after just 50 minutes of questioning and they didn't consult with the heads of...

Bin Laden Claims Detroit Bomb Attempt

Al-Qaeda leader vows new attacks, may be trying to re-assert importance

(Newser) - Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas in a new audio message released today that threatened more attacks on the United States. The message suggests the al-Qaeda leader wants to appear in direct command of the terrorist group's many affiliates when some...

Detroit Bomber Bought Return Ticket

Nothing about ticket would have raised red flag

(Newser) - Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's intention may have been to gain a one-way ticket to paradise by blowing up a Northwest Airlines flight, but the terror suspect purchased a return ticket, congressional aides were told yesterday. It had been widely reported that Abdulmutallab had bought a one-way ticket, something experts said should...

78% of Americans Favor Full-Body Scans
 78% of Americans 
 Favor Full-Body Scans 
POLL SAYS

78% of Americans Favor Full-Body Scans

Most value possible anti-terrorist effect over privacy

(Newser) - A huge majority of Americans support the use of full-body scanners in airports, casting privacy concerns aside for the chance of increased air security, a USA Today poll finds. More than two-thirds of frequent fliers say they are comfortable going through the scanners, and a whopping 78% say they should...

'Captain Obvious' Deduces Terror's Alive, Well

National security crises are not the time to play it cool, Obama

(Newser) - "No Drama Obama" reacted to the attempted Christmas bombing with characteristic cool—he "reviewed the reviews, analyzed the intelligence every which way," then he "came down from the mountaintop" to declare what we already know, writes Maureen Dowd in the New York Times . "We are...

Abdulmutallab Pleads Not Guilty

Detroit terror suspect makes first court appearance

(Newser) - Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab entered a not guilty plea today to charges of attempting to blow up an airplane en route from Copenhagen to Detroit. Appearing for the first time before a federal court, the 23-year-old Nigerian was polite in his brief exchanges with the judge, who entered the plea. The...

Double Agent Far Scarier Than Underwear Bomber
Double Agent Far Scarier Than Underwear Bomber
Joe Klein

Double Agent Far Scarier Than Underwear Bomber

Detroit incident gets the headlines, but Afghan attack is worse for US

(Newser) - Public reaction to the two recent terrorist attacks has Joe Klein puzzled. The underwear bomber failed but is getting all the attention. The successful suicide attack against CIA agents in Afghanistan has far more profound implications, but it's slipping off the radar. "Make no mistake: it has to be...

Obama Should Get Over His Gitmo Obsession
Obama Should Get Over
His Gitmo Obsession
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER

Obama Should Get Over His Gitmo Obsession

And Detroit terror suspect should be in military custody

(Newser) - Charles Krauthammer finds the White House decision to try the Detroit terror suspect as a civilian nothing short of idiotic: A guy who was "singing quite freely" when he was seized was suddenly "lawyered up and shut up." Even if they wanted to try him eventually as...

Biggest US Error Was to Miss Yemen Threat
Biggest US Error Was to Miss Yemen Threat
MARC AMBINDER

Biggest US Error Was to Miss Yemen Threat

Seems we didn't know they were capable of launching terrorists

(Newser) - In all the news yesterday about US intelligence lapses, one "startling concession" stands out to Marc Ambinder: Security chief John Brennan admitted that the US didn't realize al-Qaeda's organization in Yemen—al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula—had "progressed to the point of actually launching individuals here." As...

Forget Underwear, Fear the Butt Bomb

Explosives hidden in the rectum could prove undetectable

(Newser) - The Detroit Christmas bombing may have failed, but like the shoe-bombing attempt, it could have lasting implications for travelers, this time in the form of pat-downs that "are a little more, shall we say, intimate," writes Michael Crowley. How else, after all, to detect an unobtrusive amount of...

Obama: 'Buck Stops With Me'
 Obama: 'Buck Stops With Me' 

Obama: 'Buck Stops With Me'

President faults intelligence 'shortcomings' and promises reform

(Newser) - President Obama says when it comes to terror threats against the US, he is ultimately responsible. And he is ordering changes in the way information on potential threats is handled. "The buck stops with me," said Obama in a brief address to the nation. He is ordering the...

Detroit Bomber Should Be in Military Hands
 Detroit Bomber Should 
 Be in Military Hands
MICHAEL MUKASEY

Detroit Bomber Should Be in Military Hands

'We need to know what suspect knows'

(Newser) - The most alarming thing about the administration's unimpressive response to the Detroit terror incident was its failure to immediately hand the suspect over to the military, writes Michael Mukasey. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab should have been treated like a valuable source of information instead of a mere criminal suspect, the former...

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