Flight 63 (shoe-bomber) all over again:
A Nigerian man, claiming to be linked to al-Qaeda, allegedly tried to set off an incendiary device aboard a transatlantic airplane Friday as it descended toward Detroit's airport in what the White House called an attempted act of terrorism.
The man was quickly subdued after another passenger leapt on top of him, others on the plane said, and Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam landed safely around 1 p.m. Friday. The suspect was being treated at a hospital for burns he suffered while igniting the device, the Transportation Security Administration said.
(...)
The suspect is Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, a federal official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. ABC News and NBC News reported that Abdulmutallab, 23, attends University College London, where he studies engineering.
Although not on the TSA's "no-fly" list, Abdulmutallab's name appears to be included in the government's records of terrorism suspects, according to a preliminary review, authorities said.
Abdulmutallab has told federal investigators that he had ties to al-Qaeda and traveled to Yemen to collect the incendiary device and instructions on how to use it, according to a federal counterterrorism official briefed on the case. Authorities have yet to verify the claim, and they expect to conduct several more interviews before they determine whether he is credible, the official said.
You know? These foiled, inept jihadis seem to be almost commonplace. It's as if one has to be a raging idiot to want to blow self up while taking a bunch of other people along to the next world. (Nah, that couldn't be!)
Seriously, it only takes one non-inept idiot to carry through what this person wanted (see Fort Hood). And in my increasingly conspiracy-laced imagination, I wonder whether our terrorist foes are sending out the pinheads in their number to make mischief and possibly get lucky while the bigger fish wait and plot and plan bigger things. That's the way big-time terrorists roll...and doctrinaire Leftists, now that I think about it.
(Some would say that putting such thoughts out there amounts to fear-mongering. Well no one can monger fear in other people, not really. Being afraid is an individual choice.)
Now, excuse me while I get some caffeine in my consciousness.
