Flight 253 landed in Detroit after a man reportedly tried to ignite powder strapped to himself. AP Photo J.P. Karas
A Nigerian man reportedly attempted to blow himself up along with 278 other passengers on flight 253 which landed in Detroit. The man, whose name is Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, had a bag of powder and liquid strapped to his body. After other passengers heard what sounded like a firecracker and saw smoke coming from his seat the man was tackled. The plane then completed an emergency landing and the man was escorted away with burns on his hands.
The White House is already calling the incident a terrorist attack as Abdulmutallab has reportedly said he received orders from Al-Queda. His attempt was thwarted but officials are now concerned that the attack may have been parter of broader plan. President Obama is monitoring the situation from Hawaii.
This is the first definitive terrorist attack faced by the Obama administration. The Fort Hood shooter, Major Nidal Hasan, was said to be "inspired" by Al-Queda philosophy but Abdulmutallab appears to have actually received orders from the terrorist organization. Representative King (R-NY) is already saying the incident "must be looked into" because of Abdulmutallab's ability to sneak the powder and liquid on board.
The incident may renew calls from conservatives to start "profiling" certain groups for national security reasons. After the Fort Hood shootings many blamed "political correctness" for Major Hasan not being stopped before the atttack. Some even went as far as to call for profiling of Muslim soldiers to prevent attacks.
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Comments
I am surprised you call this a terrorist attack and then go against profiling. If they knew so damn much about this guy so soon then profiling would have possibly saved 278 people's lives!
@Larry: I'm not seeing where they are making a statement against profiling. Could you highlight that sentence or paragraph? The closest I see is the last paragraph, and it just states that it might renew the calls that were made after Fort Hood.
it appears that we've let our guard down by not recognizing these people are the evil, cowards that they are. wasn't fort hodd enough of a warning? these islamonazis eventually are going to score a big kill, and the blood on homeland "insecurity's " hands will be indelible! napolitono will be the scapegoat, but there will be a lot more who are culpable. profiling? we should tail these guys, and shake 'em down until we run 'em out of the country.
"The incident may renew calls from conservatives to start "profiling" certain groups for national security reasons"
Yeah - those calls for profiling terror groups like al-Qaeda are really out there, huh?
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