Showing posts with label Christmas Day Terror Attack. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas Day Terror Attack. Show all posts

Saturday, January 2, 2010

The Christmas Day Terrorist Attack and Our Endless Fears

~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima



The Northwest Flight 253 plane.

The shocking news of the botched Christmas Day terrorist attack by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on the Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam as it was about to land at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport left millions of Americans and others in the US gasping for breath as they were enjoying their turkey and basking in the joy of the passage of the Health Reform Bill by the Senate.




Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

The terrorist attack has raised so much dust on the shortcomings of U.S. intelligence since investigations have shown that the al-Qaeda in Yemen recruited Abdulmutallab months ago. Also, his father Alhaji Umaru Mutallab warned the local security agencies and the US Consulate in Nigeria that his son had been radicalized by Islamists.




The underwear bomb.

Abdumutallab warned his family not to communicate with him again and stopped them from contacting him by changing his telephone numbers. The U.S. Consulate in Nigeria did not really ignore his warnings. In fact, counter-terror officials were alerted in November and intelligence databases revealed that Abdulmutallab was on the watch list of the CIA. And he still got a US visa?


The Nigerian security agencies may have excuses for failing to respond to the security alerts, but what excuses would the US intelligence give for failing to investigate the security alerts and failing to go ahead to find out the whereabouts of Abdulmutallab to monitor his activities in the UK which has become recruiting grounds for agents of the al-Qaeda.




The CIA and Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA)were warned by the Abdulutallab's father.

Investigations have shown that Anwar al-Awlaki, a regional commander of the al-Qaeda in Yemen contacted the Nigerian terrorist who was a student of Engineering at the University College London. Al-Awlaki is a civil engineer.



Presently the security agencies in Nigeria, the Netherlands, Yemen and the US seem confused and embarrassed by their failures, but are still pointing accusing fingers at each other in counter-accusations of how the young terrorist escaped from their radar during the Christmas holidays and nearly detonated a bomb that would have blown up the Delta/Northwest Airline Flight 253 Airbus 330-300 aircraft with 300 onboard and what a catastrophe that would have been on Christmas Day!


The report of the New York Times on the 9/11 Commission has shown the lack of accountability in the management of the important security reports noted after the September 11 terrorist attacks.


Millions of Nigerians and Muslims resident in the US are ill at ease, because of their fears of racial and religious profiling at airports and other places as homeland security and other counter terror agencies begin to implement more comprehensive security measures.
"Racial and religious profiling are in fact counterproductive and can lead to a climate of insecurity and fear," the CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper has said in response to the incidents of Middle Eastern' passengers removed from a plane in Phoenix and the removal a Nigerian passenger from a flight after he became ill and spent what others considered too much time in the aircraft's bathroom in Michigan.

President Barack Obama has acknowledged the shortcomings in the US security systems and we hope the leakages would be blocked securely to prevent another dangerous attempt by any terrorist on any US target in the future. We would all be safer if the threats of terrorism could be checked and prevented than wrestling with them aboard our planes or airports.




Friday, January 1, 2010

Statement From the Association of Flight Attendants Concerning Crew of Northwest Flight 253

Happy New Year 2010!


31 Dec 2009 16:43 Africa/Lagos

Statement From the Association of Flight Attendants Concerning Crew of Northwest Flight 253

The flight attendants of Northwest flight 253, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA), wish to offer their sincere thanks and appreciation for the support, praise and well wishes they have received from the public and federal officials, including the President, since the events on Christmas Day.


The entire crew recognizes the media's interest in speaking with them as soon as possible. However, as the FBI and additional federal investigations are ongoing, they are legally prohibited from speaking to the public. During this time, they ask that the media respect their desire and need for privacy. The crew of flight 253 will refrain from participating in interviews until further notice.


After being officially released from the investigations, some of them might be willing to share their experiences. If you are interested in interviewing the flight attendants, please direct media requests to Corey Caldwell at ccaldwell@afanet.org.


For over 60 years, the Association of Flight Attendants has been serving as the voice for flight attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill. More than 50,000 flight attendants at 22 airlines come together to form AFA-CWA, the world's largest flight attendant union. AFA is part of the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at www.afanet.org.


CONTACT: Corey Caldwell of Association of Flight Attendants, +1-202-434-0586


/PRNewswire-USNewswire -- Dec. 31/


Source: Association of Flight Attendants

Web Site: http://www.afanet.org/


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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Nigerian-American Muslims Condemn Attempted Christmas Day Terror Attack

29 Dec 2009 17:35 Africa/Lagos

Nigerian-American Muslims Condemn Attempted Christmas Day Terror Attack

BOSTON, Dec. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Council of Nigerian Muslim Organizations in the United States of America (NCNMO) today issued a statement condemning Friday's attempted bombing of a Northwest Airline flight into Detroit.


The statement, issued by Mufutau R. Adeleke, the Council's General Secretary, was released from the Council's ongoing annual convention in Boston:


"On behalf of the National Council of Nigerian Muslim Organizations in the United States of America and thousands of Nigerian-Americans across the country, I condemn the attempted terror attack on Christmas Day.


"The National Council of Nigerian Muslim Organizations in the United States of America condemns all acts of terrorism. Any human being who attempts or commits acts of terror, murder, or any act of cruelty in the name of a religion is not only destroying innocent lives, but is also debasing the values of the faith of that religion. Neither such behavior nor the individual involved represent Islam.


"Nigerian-American Muslims are active promoters of peace and tolerance in the community. We are currently holding our annual convention in Boston, with a major focus on training our youth in the peaceful way of Islam to become the next generation of upright Nigerian-American leaders.


"The incident that occurred on Northwest Airline Flight 253 on Friday is an attack on all Americans. The perpetrator neither represents Nigerian Muslims nor Muslims in general. We encourage a thorough investigation of the incident and full disclosure of the findings."


Source: National Council of Nigerian Muslim Organizations

CONTACT: Dr. Abdulfattah Ilupeju of National Council of Nigerian Muslim
Organizations in the USA, +1-781-888-7988




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