Nigerian Christmas Card, Sunday Bloody Sunday

Ronald Asmus
Raj Kamal & Karim Pakravan
Mohammed Bazzi

The Christmas Terrorist
Peter Slevin
Jay Solomon and friends
Gerald Posner

Incredible as it seems, al Qaeda had a Nigerian Christmas card being delivered to Detroit.: "A 23-year-old Nigerian man who claimed ties to al-Qaeda was charged Saturday with trying to destroy a Detroit-bound airliner, about a month after his father warned U.S. officials of concerns about his son's religious beliefs.
The suspect in the Christmas Day attack, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, claimed to have received training and instructions from al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen, a law enforcement official said on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., chairwoman of a Homeland Security subcommittee, said there were "strong suggestions of a Yemen-al-Qaeda connection and an intent to blow up the plane over U.S. airspace."

An account given to CNN by one of the men who took the burning device from Abdulmutallab's lap said: "Jasper Schuringa, a Dutch man who was sitting behind him, was one of the passengers and crew members praised for banding together to stop the suspect after first hearing a sound like firecrackers.
Schuringa said he saw smoke and flames billowing from the suspect's lap and lunged onto Abdulmutallab's seat to take a burning object he was holding between his legs.


"When I saw the suspect he was getting on fire and I freaked of course, and without any hesitation jumped over the seats and jumped to the suspect because I was thinking, like, he's trying to blow up the plane," he told the CNN news channel. "I pulled the object from him and tried to extinguish the fire with my hands and threw it away," he said.


As the cabin filled with smoke, Schuringa and crew dragged the suspect to the front and contained him, while others put out the fire. "We took him to first class and there we stripped him and contained him with handcuffs and made sure he had no more weapons or bombs on him," Schuringa said."


A federal judge this morning read charges to Abdulmutallab, who was in a wheelchair. He confessed to the FBI that he got the materials from al Qaeda in Yemen. But he also told them he only was in contact with the Yemeni leader over the Internet, so who knows if he really has gone there to train or if it's all a fantasy in his head. If he was a dedicated, trained terrorist, they sure aren't turning them out like they used to, and 256 passengers can thank god that he just burned the crap out of his legs instead of blowing a hole through the plane. If he is a deranged young man who pieced the parts together from instructions over the Internet, then we can thank god that, despite his college education, he wasn't the brightest sparkler in the box...

The real breach of security happened in Lagos, Nigeria, where he boarded the plane with the bomb components, the dry elements strapped to his legs, and a syringe full of liquid chemicals. He was also able to slip through security in Amsterdam, switching planes for the US.

The US would like to link him to Yemen, as it bolsters their supporting the Yemeni government with warships, and sending drones in a recent attack on an al Qaeda training camp. Then they can send more military support even though the Saudis have claimed victory over the rebel Houthis. Putting down one dictatorial rebel group and bolstering another dictatorial government in Yemen helps stabilize the region and further world peace.

And it seems there is going to be no rest for the crew of flight 253: , The A.P. rep"... the same flight involved in Friday’s terrorism attempt — requested emergency assistance Sunday upon landing in Detroit, an airport spokesman said. The crew had requested police assistance on the ground because another passenger was “verbally disruptive.”The Associated Press reported that the passenger in question was a man from Nigeria, the same country of suspect in Friday’s terrorism attempt. The second Nigerian man was taken into custody after locking himself in the airliner’s lavatory... the man had locked himself in the lavatory for such a long time that the crew requested help on the ground." So, either this man was preparing another concoction, or was trying to flush what he had down the toilet before landing, or the whole incident just made him very excited... Do you think those Nigerians are any better at terrorism than they are in promoting Internet scams?

I'm waiting to see an article on the relationship of hip-hop gangsta rap to the radicalization of foreign and domestic Muslim youth...


sunday, bloody sunday...

I wish I hadn't been so prophetic, but there is blood flowing in the streets of North Tehran, and hospitals are filling up with protesters who have been shot. The police and Basiji have gone amuk, further alienating those who were previously neutral. The anti-government protesters are mixing in with hundreds of thousands who are trying to commemorate the most important religious holiday to a Shiite Muslim. Instead of a religious time of atonement, they have created a real martyr by killing: "Ali Moussavi, the 35-year-old nephew of Mir Hussein Moussavi of one of the opposition leaders. For Shiite Muslims, "Ashura marks the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who was killed by the caliph Yazid... No religious person would accept the killing of Muslims on this day. Now with the killing of Mir Hussein’s nephew, Mir Hussein is Imam Hossein and Khameni is Yazid in the minds of many people.”

For up to the minute reporting, go to the lede blog from the NY Times.

There were four confirmed dead in Tehran, with reports of more in other cities: "Ahmad Reza Radan, Iran's deputy police chief, also said that 300 protesters had been arrested following the violence.


"In the incident several people were killed. One fell off a bridge, two died in car accidents and one was killed by a bullet," Radan said. Referring to the person shot dead, he said: "As the police was not using firearms this (death) is suspicious and it is being investigated."


It earlier said that four protesters had died in Tehran and protesters chanted angry slogans seeking revenge.


"We will kill those who killed our brothers," it quoted demonstrators as chanting... A general strike has been called for tomorrow. Each new incident is growing more violent, and with each person killed it adds one more martyr in a country that reveres its martyrs. If the Revolutionary Guard had any smarts, it would relinquish control and give it back to the ayatollahs, let them screw things up just as badly for awhile...


I think I need some laughs, here's some late night political jokes:

"President Obama's daughter Sasha says that she already bought her dad's gift. She won't say what it is but she did say, 'It's something he likes.' Which begs the question: How did an 8-year-old get her hands on a carton of Marlboro Lights?" –Conan O'Brien

"Yesterday, President Obama prank-called a Washington radio station, calling himself 'Barry from D.C.' Then, just to mess with him, Obama called Glenn Beck's radio show as 'B. Hussein from Kenya.'" ?" –Conan O'Brien

"Former President Bush is writing his memoirs and he says they will focus on 12 major decisions he made in his life. The weird thing is, 11 of them were made by Dick Cheney." –Conan O'Brien

"According to a recent report, due to the recession, Americans are eating cheap, unhealthy, fatty foods. So apparently, the recession started in 1957." ?" –Conan O'Brien

"Traffic is bad, the holiday with the gridlock. It's like Dick Cheney, all major arteries are clogged." –David Letterman

"Final installment of Things More Fun Than Reading the Sarah Palin Memoir: Driving into a tree, microwaving your head, and getting stabbed in the eye with a carrot." –David Letterman

"Well, it's been a long time coming . . . But tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. is the Senate's big healthcare vote. Which means starting at 5 a.m., me and my buddies will be tailgating in the Senate parking lot." –Jimmy Fallon

"Oh, I love this — did you hear about this? Did you hear about this? Yesterday, President Obama said his wife, Michelle, decided they should not buy each other Christmas gifts this year. Mr. President, if you’re listening, it’s a trap! Listen! She doesn’t mean it. Go shopping. Let me tell you something Mr. President, if you don’t buy her a gift, you better hope health care passes." –Jay Leno

"The wife of Al Qaeda’s second in command is now calling on women to become suicide bombers. To qualify, they must be able to push a car loaded with explosives, because, as you know, women aren't allowed to drive over there." –Jay Leno