August 30, 2010

Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi, of Detroit, MI, and Hezem al Murisi: Just a couple of fun-loving Muslims, kids. Move along. Nothing to see here.

image6820712g.jpg
Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al-Soofi, left, and Hezem Abdullah Thabi al-Murisi, right.

So much for the "slow news day:" Two Suspects on United Airlines Flight Arrested on Terror Charges in Amsterdam - ABC News

Airport security screeners in Birmingham, Alabama first stopped al Soofi and referred him to additional screening because of what officials said was his "bulky clothing."

In addition, officials said, al Soofi was found to be carrying $7,000 in cash and a check of his luggage found a cell phone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle, three cell phones taped together, several watches taped together, a box cutter and three large knives. Officials said there was no indication of explosives and he and his luggage were cleared for the flight from Birmingham to Chicago O'Hare.

CBS News reports (emphasis added)

U.S. officials say luggage belonging to one of the men contained what appeared to be mock bombs - and they may have been testing the security system.
In this case it was a set of devices in checked luggage which, if filled with explosives, could have been detonated remotely or via a timing device.

On the other hand, two to three devoted suicide bombers could, it would seem, smuggle enough aboard between them to have a shot at bringing down a plane.

Now far be it from me to tell the members of the "security system" their jobs, but if I was in charge of the unit, I'd be off-loading everyone else on the plane and checking what ever vials of fluids they were holding to see if we didn't have some other passengers with innocent looking liquids and yet another with a very small detonating device.

"Ahmed, you take the shell of the bomb and the timer. Hezem, you take some bulky stuff to distract them. I'll have the small bottles of explosive inside the 'water' bottle. We'll meet up in the back after the seat belt sign goes off. I'll duck in the toilet and pull the detonator out of my butt and then we can all play 'Assembly.' Okay?"

But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong or just paranoid. Given all the massive security at airports these days, what could possibly go wrong?

A more likely explanation is that these two were just coming into the country to be "guest workers" for that mosque built by the "religion of peace" in lower Manhattan.

Posted by Vanderleun at August 30, 2010 5:35 PM
Bookmark and Share

Comments:

HOME

"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.

So the one guy had a rather substantial amount of cash and cell phones taped up as if to an explosive device, but he was cleared to get back on the plane?
This is why I don't fly.

"You don't professionalize until you federalize!"

Posted by: Larry at August 30, 2010 6:34 PM

A young man, recently graduated from Temple and applied to the TSA as a screener. I told him there wasn't a chance in hell. Too many marks against him:
He's a college graduate, he's Asian, and his IQ is off the charts.

Posted by: Jewel at August 30, 2010 6:59 PM

The single most salient reason for the jihadis to not blow up an airliner is that it would be silly to attack us while we are so busy destroying ourselves.

"When your enemy is intent on destroying himself, get out of his way." So said Uncle Clausewitz.

The moment the Democrats signal that there will be a real primary challenge against Obama I'll start to worry about domestic attacks again.

Posted by: TmjUtah at August 30, 2010 8:43 PM

@TmjUtah

Unfortunately we aren't destroying ourselves fast enough for their liking so they will, I believe, continue to help us along any way they can.

They're "givers" that way I hear.

Posted by: Tom at August 31, 2010 2:16 AM

But I'm telling you the real threat is from Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin and those evil Tea Partiers! They're Christians, and White! white, I tell you!

Can't you see the danger from a white Christian?

Posted by: Mikey NTH at August 31, 2010 6:41 AM

"A more likely explanation is that these two were just coming into the country to be "guest workers" for that mosque built by the "religion of peace" in lower Manhattan."

Well, if they come over here and build it the way the Chechen guestworkers 'renovated' the school in Beslan, what a side show that will be.

Posted by: Jewel at August 31, 2010 9:53 AM

I thought I'd share something interesting from The Jawa Report:

Wishful thinking by AP on dry-run hijackers?
The party line (courtesy of the AP):

The U.S. does not expect to charge the men, a law enforcement official said. The two men arrested in Amsterdam -- both traveling to Yemen -- did not know each other and were not traveling together, a U.S. government official said.
And reality (Detroit News):

Both of the detained men are friends who lived and worked in Dearborn, said Imad Hamad of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. The al Soofi and al Murisi families are prominent within the Yemeni-American community in Dearborn, Hamad said.
Oops, guess Hamad didn't get the White House memo.

As an added bonus, the guy's cousin says he used to travel all the time with his stuff taped together:

Another cousin, Omar Sufi, also told the New York Times that it was usual for al Soofi to travel with items taped together.
The New York Times, August 30: Omar Sufi of Detroit, who said he was a cousin of the passenger who boarded in Alabama, said his relative’s actions did not sound unusual. He said that his cousin had most likely been trying to take medication and phones back to his family, and that it was common to bind together items meant for the same recipient. “This is our culture,” he said. He described his cousin as “a nice guy” who worked as a cashier in Alabama and spoke little English.

Priceless!

Posted by: Jewel at August 31, 2010 3:18 PM

"This is an instance where I think that everyone in government was impressed with the amount of information-sharing that happened with some of our partners overseas and the speed with which we were able to run incidents to the ground," Burton said. (WH spokesman/spinmeister)

Well, I guess that's the line we'll be hearing from the WH when the next airliner is blown up.

Posted by: Sasquatch at September 1, 2010 2:26 PM
Post a comment:

"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated to combat spam and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.










Remember personal info?