Napolitano admits there may be other air cargo bombs

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano told NPR's All Things Considered host Robert Siegel on Monday, November 1, that there may be other al-Qaeda terrorist explosive packages from Yemen and elsewhere on their way to the U.S., shipped by air cargo.

She described the two terrorist bombs that were aboard UPS and FedEx planes intercepted in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and at East Midlands Airport in Great Britain, as highly sophisticated. Dodging the question of whether ordinary security screening measures at airports would have detected them, the Secretary said, "The plain fact of the matter is, we did, and that wasn't by accident. Those kinds of warnings and tips occur, and they do so because of our alliances, and our friendships, and our relationships."

Without divulging sensitive information or actual procedures, Ms. Napolitano stressed that the system works. "We use a multilayered system, out of which intelligence-sharing is the first layer," she said.

Saudi Arabia played a critical role in alerting the U.S. to the shipments from Yemen. As the largest country on the Arabian Peninsula with huge oil reserves, the Saudi's have a strong vested interest in preserving their monarchy, suppressing radical Islamic insurgents, and remaining in the good graces of the Obama administration, which just approved a $60 billion fighter aircraft and weapons sale to them.

Other sources have reported that as much as 13 ounces of the explosive PETN were packed inside computer printer toner cartridges, and set to be detonated using cellular telephones. If the bombs had exploded, they would have done considerable damage. Such devices would have been almost impossible to detect using x-ray scanning technology, although more sensitive next generation bomb sniffing molecular detectors, or even dogs, might have discovered them. The problem is processing and scanning the large volume of air cargo shipped from all over the world to the United States.

Terrorist devices, like fingerprints, are unique in that they point back to their specific makers. Ms. Napolitano indicated that the government is using a process of reverse engineering to study the devices, to identify their source, and come up with better ways of detecting them. While not wishing to discuss the devices in specific details, Ms. Napolitano added, "The forensics investigation is not yet complete, but officials have a general idea of how the devices were meant to be detonated."

Wile the U.S. does not have authority outside its borders to inspect cargo, they have sent a team to Yemen to help investigate the incidents, assist in finding and arresting those who prepared and mailed the two packages that have been discovered so far, and to help train local airport security. "We've put a ground halt on all cargo emanating out of Yemen, until they can be inspected," Napolitano said.

The recent incidents recall the terrible tragedy of Pan Am World Airways Flight 103 (N739PA), a Boeing 747-121 named "Clipper Maid of the Seas", which was brought down on December 21, 1988 over Lockerbie, Scotland by a similar device, planted by operatives from Libya. The bomb was placed inside a transistor radio. The explosion punched a 20-inch wide hole on the left side of the fuselage, causing the aircraft to rapidly break apart. A total of 270 passengers and crew died in that crash, along with 11 Lockerbie residents, whose homes were hit by falling debris. That explosive device was overlooked by German airport security, when the aircraft boarded passengers at Frankfurt Airport.

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