As 2009 comes to an end, political correctness and its attendant failures nearly claimed hundreds of innocent lives... Again. Through this near miss, we are served up one more chilling reminder of just how badly terrorists want to kill Americans, the lengths they will go to do so, how close they came to actually succeeding and how truly dangerous and myopic Barack Obama's worldview of Islamic terrorism has become.
Dangerous and myopic: Barack Obama's worldview of Islamic terrorism
On Christmas Day, Nigerian al Qaeda operative Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab almost succeeded in bringing down Northwest Airlines Flight 253 with nearly 300 souls on board. But, for the grace of God, Abdulmutallab's Underwear-Borne Improvised Explosive Device, or UBIED (pronounced You-Be-IED), ironically described by al Qaeda as a "technologically advanced device", failed to detonate due to a "technical glitch", probably when Abdulmutallab wet himself prior to detonation. Hopefully, the malfunction burned him to the point that not even Viagra can help him conquer the 72 virgins that await his overdue demise, but I digress. Any administration must play a delicate balancing act with security issues. There is a fine line between protecting the public and suppressing their freedoms, of informing the public and instituting panic. But, when government officials lie, particularly about matters of life and death, it undermines their credibility to the point of non-existence. Through their wobbly response to this act of brazen terror, what little credibility Janet Napolitano and Barack Obama both had on the subject of terrorism has been seriously damaged.
Despite all of the warning signs that screamed "TERRORIST!", the only thing that prevented catastrophe was a device failure and the quick thinking of passengers
There was more than enough explosive material in Abdulmutallab's stinky shorts to destroy the aircraft. He purchased his ticket with cash and carried no bags on an international flight, both indicators that should have singled him out for secondary screening according to an acquaintance of mine, a former airline employee with knowledge of such screening methods. He was also denied entry into Britain when he gave British officials the name of a fictitious school he was to attend, which resulted in his name being entered into the US terrorist watch list system. In addition, his own father warned US authorities that his son was radicalized and dangerous. Despite all of the warning signs that screamed "TERRORIST!", the only thing that prevented catastrophe was a device failure and the quick thinking of passengers - who, thanks to the US government's inability to prevent terrorist boardings, are now the last line of defense in this war that progressives deride as non-existent.
Barack Obama has consistently called the closure of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba an American moral and national security imperative. His misguided belief was that closing the prison would demonstrate to the world the United States' commitment to the rule of law and that it would remove an al Qaeda recruiting tool. The reality however, is that Obama's ignorant, Ivy League worldview simply places us in greater danger. Two of the masterminds of the Christmas Day attack were Yemeni graduates of Club Gitmo and were previously released and repatriated and Obama is set to release more of them back to Yemen.
The secular-progressive view of terrorism, as repeatedly espoused by numerous members of the Obama Administration, is that it is the unfortunate result of either poverty, illiteracy, social injustice, or something caused by the United States. Like most of the 9/11 hijackers, Abdulmutallab was from a well-to-do, middle class family; the disaffected son of a wealthy Nigerian banker, shattering this liberal myth of what drives these diseased individuals to terror.
Obama Administration will remain woefully incapable of protecting Americans from the threats we face
Without a complete attitude adjustment, the Obama Administration will remain woefully incapable of protecting Americans from the threats we face. If he was serious, he would have put someone other than Janet Napolitano, a lawyer with no experience in physical security, in charge of the nation's physical security.
Napolitano, who said that "The system worked perfectly, once the incident occurred" inspires zero confidence. Additionally, one has to wonder what effect, if any, the accidental Internet posting of TSA technical documents on Napolitano's watch and Obama's very public war on the CIA had on Abdulmutallab's ability to carry out his mission or our inability to detect it.
What was the government's immediate response to this act of terrorism? The same tired excuse that "These measures have been in place for a number of years", calling it an attempted act of terrorism, more Air Marshals, more pat downs, full luggage searches, random secondary screening, the banning of pillows, blankets and other items from passengers' laps, no in-flight maps and restricted movements in the last hour of flight.
So what's wrong with those increased security measures if they keep us safer? For starters, they don't keep us safer. They're all entirely reactionary and most are simply asinine. Take away an in-flight map, all a terrorist has to do is look out the window or wait for descent. Air Marshals, like passengers, should be considered the last line of defense. Through no fault of their own, their very existence is an acknowledgment of a failed system and an assumption that a terrorist has already penetrated all other defenses.
Secondly, the increased screening procedures, while more effective than nothing, are somewhat random in how they are applied, only address current or previous threats and are leading us way too far down the road to a police state.
Terrorist profiling program
Putting someone on any manner of terrorist watch list means that person has had some contact with known terrorists. Why they would still be allowed on an aircraft without full screening, much less at all, is anyone's guess, but the history of Congressional debate over these watch lists is replete with liberal efforts to undermine their effectiveness.
As uncomfortable as Americans may be with the idea, the immediate institution of a terrorist profiling program is the only measure that can proactively prevent airborne terrorism and balance American civil liberties by ensuring that the terrorist never gets on board the aircraft.
We are told by Barack Obama and other hapless Democrats that profiling of Muslims would betray our values as Americans. But, what's their alternative? More government. Increasingly intrusive technological measures that either screen everyone or randomly pick young American children, grandmothers and veterans with prostheses for secondary screening, while the terrorist is allowed on his one-way trip to hell with no bags and no passport. What could be a bigger betrayal of American freedoms and values than the police state that now oversees US aviation and the screening procedures that Americans must now endure, just to board a plane, when these measures only give the appearance of security?
The terrorist mind is depraved, while ours is reactionary and incapable of understanding the depths of their depravity. While we are now concentrating on bombs in someone's underwear, they are already hard at work developing tomorrow's keistered improvised explosive device (KIED).
We can't possibly search every cavity of every passenger that boards an aircraft bound for the United States. Or can we? It is unconscionable that we even think about doing so. But, should we continue in this reactionary fashion, pretty soon, screening delays will be as long as work days and just the threat of terrorism will cripple US aviation. All air travelers will be clad in nothing but diapers, they'll have no access to their luggage, will be restrained for the entire duration of their flight, and will be jailed for suspected terrorism should they decide to complain.
Every time an incident such as this occurs, our Constitutional rights and freedom of movement are further restricted. And every time Americans are asked how they feel about the security measures put in place after an incident such as this, the inevitable response by travel-weary Americans is "Whatever it takes." But, if we wish to preserve what little freedom we have left, America must start demanding that the government target the terrorists and leave law-abiding Americans alone.
