American Security Failed to Connect Dots to Nigerian Terrorist? What Dots?
Posted: Wednesday, December 30, 2009
by Mogama
http://www.mogama.info
Since the failed airplane disaster on
Christmas Day, we have been hearing talks of failure to "connect
the dots". Are these the dots? That Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab was
placed on a watch list? There are more than half a million on that
list. That Umar visited Yemen, an Al Qaeda stronghold? That he
attended a 2008 Islamic conference in Houston, Texas? How many other
Muslims attend that conference? That he is a chemical engineer? That
he purchased a quantity of PETN (pentaerythritol tetranitrate),
enough to blow a hole in a jet plane? That Abdul comes from northern
Nigeria, where Al Qaeda has been building a base? That he paid cash
for his plane ticket, bought a one-way ticket, and did not check in
any luggage on an international flight, besides his carry-on bag (if
any or all of that is true)?
So those are the dots that should have
been connected? Even if all that is true, we may still ask, "What
dots?" Based on the current profile of who's likely to be a
terrorist, there were hardly any solid dots to connect.
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Farouk is from Nigeria, West Africa, not the Middle East, Asia, and Europe, which are considered likely breeding grounds for Islamic extremists.
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Farouk comes from a wealthy family – a rich boy who attended a high-class boarding school in Togo before getting his chemical engineering degree from University College in London. Certainly not your stereotypical low-income, jobless or cash-stripe Muslim susceptible to radical recruiters and the coffers they offer.
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Abdul is intelligent, well educated, a college graduate, not ignorant, naive and gullible. You think our guardians will know by now that the 911 attackers were college-level educated guys (if we are to believe the conventional line).
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Much have been made of Farouk's more than 300 Internet posts, but they offer little clue as to his extremist views.
All this proves that American
intelligence may be still be studying what terrorists USED to do, but
with little clue about what the extremists may be up to NOW. To cover
up its cluelessness, the government has resorted to overreaction,
which has been more shocking than Farouk's failed attempt to bring
down Northwest Flight 253 over Detroit on Christmas Day.
The blame game, a favorite pastime in
America's capital, remains alive and well. Such a desire to fire
someone, anyone, every time there is a security error! Do we expect
100% security at American and European airports? Seems like on the
back of this drama, electronic strip search may become reality. With
the blessing of the EU, the Dutch will soon install their search
machine at Amsterdam airport.
Back to this whole business about
"connecting the dots – so reminiscent of 911's aftermath, with
earfuls about how US intelligence failed to "connect the dots".
How the CIA, FBI, and others did not share information... And to make
up for those missed dotted dots, the Bush-Cheney people went chasing
down too many dots that drew a straight line from New York to Saddam"
Hussein's "weapons of mass destruction".
In the name of connecting the dots, are
we about to create phantom dots again? Seriously, could it be that
the real security threat facing American families is a government
that does not understand just how brilliant, how educated, how
technologically up to date the radicals can be? Could it be that our
existential danger is not so much guys like Farouk but an
intelligence community that keeps looking for stereotypes, the
'terrorist template', the dots that may not exist or that keep
changing?
The fact that security has been stepped up has prevented several terrorist attacks in the UK. I assume the same must be true in the U.S., as the planned Xmas attack is probably just one of many.Having said that, it is a great shame that security was not increased in time to prevent the 9/11 attack, as had been recommended in a report by former VP Al Gore.I agree with what you are saying in that the security forces need to be more aware of what the would-be terrorists are doing now. For example, is there any point in strip-searching people when they are hiding weapons inside their bodies?You know, Zhana, whether we agree or not, you always make your point brilliantly and with class. Thanks for adding to the discussion. ~mogama~
Having been subjected to several thorough airport searches over the past few years (and I fly maybe once a year!), I have to wonder what criteria the government follows when determining who to search. If they are looking for fat middle-aged middle-class Baptist white guys, then yep, I'm their man. Otherwise I'd say it's time to tweak the algorithm to bring it into the 21st century. Of course, hindsight is always 20-20, and it's easier to be on the outside and make accusations, so maybe I should keep my mouth shut and be prepared to submit to further strip searches. :PYes, Danny, you're quite right. They haven't found a fat middle-aged Baptist guy...yet. Here is the only sure template of a terrorist we have thus far when it comes to wanting to blow up American airplanes: male, any color, any continent, may be Muslim, radical. ~mogama~
You are on the dot, Mogama, I mean its ridiculous to fuel this `conspiracy theory' rather `dot theory' because in the end everyone would end up barking up the wrong tree! Thanks for the perspective!Hi there, Vinoo. That's why we need live human intelligence trained to detect signals of suspicious conduct at airports, on planes and wherever else necessary. Strip searching EVERY airline traveler only rewards the bad guys with the satisfaction of seeing air travel clogged up, the satisfaction of having governments spending billions more of dollars on feel-good searches that result in little additional security.
The blame game, surely it must be the fault of the past administration. LOLGood article Mogama.Frankly, Linda, I wish America would learn from the Israelis: they don't try to find anyone to blame when bad guys slipped through their security system; they just figure out how to adjust their operations to get ahead of the enemy the next time. ~mogama~
Again, we could learn a bunch from Israel and hope we do and that it isn't too late for the next time - maybe we should hire some from there as advisors? Again, you did a good, good piece which does the Searchwarp site credit - think I'll warp it!You're onto something there, Marijo, about hiring some Israelis, but that will really tick off the Islamic world, as you'd expect. ~mogama~
Another great read, and thanks for that. The problem seems to be the TSA (or government, I guess) really doesn't get it. Old ladies and young children are sometimes subjected to strip searches, which is ridiculous, and yet someone who spends time in Yemen (one of the dots, I guess) learning radicalism is allowed to fly unhindered.As an aside, how can you conceal a device to blow up a plane strapped to your leg? Wouldn't it be obvious? Or is the TSA too concerned with offending anyone who might do harm to America?The TSA has already said they'll start profiling (they aren't calling it that, of course) those from mostly Muslim countries, yet they just need to be aware. If a man (or woman) boards a plane with no luggage and pays in cash, and is from a place where extremism is taught (or condoned, as in Saudi Arabia) regularly, that is a red flag. Forget about old ladies removing their shoes: the TSA should just use common sense. If it looks like a duck, quacks and likes water, it sure isn't a cat.But then again, this is the government we're talking about.Great job, sir.One thing that really confounds me is that we have so many intelligent people in government agencies like the TSA, yet their collective intelligence never seems to get the job done. What am I missing? Thanks, Michael, for your expressive words. ~mogama~
Most people aren't going to like hearing this, but I don't think this kid is necessarily a bad kid. I think he was misled by religious fundamentalists. When I look at that face, I don't see a monster. I see a young man who got into something that he probably wishes he could get himself out of.I welcome your take, Gregory. It's interesting that you see Farouk as an innocent "kid", though he's a college graduate and age 23. I wonder if any of us would see him as a kid if he had succeeded in killing the nearly 300 on that plane. From my angle, anyone who would do something like that is like a poisonous snake; a "kid" cobra can be as dangerous as mama cobra or papa cobra. ~mogama~See my new article "Nigerian Bomber is Innocent".OK, Gregory...legally that's true. He is innocent until proven guilty. My point was not the legal aspect, but his being a "kid", which implies he's an innocent child. I'll take a look at your article. ~mogama~
It seems to me that the CIA or the FBI, have not learned there lessons from 9/11,in the wake of that terrible day,various stories arose of what should or could have been done to avert that attack.I know you cannot have 100% security all the time,but when his own father alerted the american authoriies about his son,maybe they should of taken heed.Its just a miracle in my understanding that more lives were not lost on that day.Maybe the intelligence community will learn this time, but I'm not so sure. Thanks, Herdeep, for your comment. ~mogama~