Al Qaeda Underwear Bomber Admits: I Picked Detroit Because of Cheap Flight
- Posted on March 24, 2011 at 6:02pm by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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WASHINGTON (AP) — When an admitted al-Qaida operative planned his itinerary for a Christmas 2009 airline bombing, he considered launching the strike in the skies above Houston or Chicago, The Associated Press has learned. But tickets were too expensive, so he refocused the mission on a cheaper destination: Detroit.
The decision is among new details emerging about one of the most sensational terrorism plots to unfold since President Barack Obama took office. It shows that al-Qaida‘s Yemen branch does not share Osama bin Laden’s desire to attack symbolic targets, preferring instead to strike at targets of opportunity. Like the plot that nearly blew up U.S.-bound cargo planes last year, the cities themselves didn’t matter. It’s a strategy that has helped the relatively new group quickly become the No. 1 threat to the United States.
After the failed bombing and the arrest of suspected bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the question of why Detroit was targeted had gone unanswered. It was previously reported that Abdulmutallab did not specifically choose Christmas for his mission.
Abdulmutallab considered Houston, where he attended an Islamic conference in 2008, current and former counterterrorism officials told the AP. Another person with knowledge of the case said Abdulmutallab also considered Chicago but was discouraged by the cost. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.
While the target and timing were unimportant, the mission itself was a highly organized plot that involved one of the FBI’s most wanted terrorists and al-Qaida’s go-to bomb maker, current and former officials said. Before Abdulmutallab set off on his mission, he visited the home of al-Qaida manager Fahd al-Quso to discuss the plot and the workings of the bomb.
Al-Quso, 36, is one of the most senior al-Qaida leaders publicly linked to the Christmas plot. His association with al-Qaida stretches back more than a decade to his days in Afghanistan when, prosecutors said, bin Laden implored him to “eliminate the infidels from the Arabian Peninsula.”
From there he rose through the ranks. He was assigned the job in Aden to videotape the 1998 suicide bombing of the USS Cole, which killed 17 sailors and injured 39 others, but fell asleep. Despite the lapse, he is now a mid-level manager in the organization. Al-Quso is from the same tribe as radical U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who had an operational role in the botched Christmas attack.
In December, al-Quso was designated a global terrorist by the State Department, a possible indication that his role in al-Qaida’s Yemen franchise has grown more dangerous.
Al-Quso was indicted on 50 terrorism counts in New York for his role preparing for the Cole attack and served more than five years in prison in Yemen before he was released in 2007. On the FBI’s list, al-Quso ranks behind only bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri among the most sought-after al-Qaida terrorists.
After meeting with al-Quso, Abdulmutallab left Yemen in December 2009 and made his way to Ghana, where he paid $2,831 in cash for a round-trip ticket from Nigeria to Amsterdam to Detroit and back.
Abdulmutallab, 24, is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiring with others to kill 281 passengers and 11 crew members aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253. After his arrest, he admitted to the FBI that he intended to blow up the plane and later surfaced in an al-Qaida propaganda video.
Abdulmutallab initially cooperated with investigators, pulling back the curtain on some activities by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemen-based offshoot that has quickly became al-Qaida’s most active franchise. Plea discussions fell apart, however, and he’s scheduled to go to trial in October while acting as his own lawyer.
One of the challenges facing U.S. intelligence officials is that much of the information they collect on terrorists comes from surveillance or informants, and the government is reluctant to reveal it. So if a terrorist is captured overseas, prosecuting him in the U.S. or persuading another country to hold him can be difficult.
A plea deal from Abdulmutallab would have resolved that dilemma. His testimony could form the basis for indictments against al-Awlaki or perhaps bomb maker Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri. And the U.S. wouldn’t have to disclose some of its most sensitive intelligence-gathering techniques. On Thursday, the State Department designated al-Asiri as a terrorist and banned Americans from doing business him.
—
Associated Press writers Ed White in Detroit and Tom Hays and Larry Neumeister in New York contributed to this report.
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sleazyhippo
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 9:19amThe high-verbal reactions seen in here are a great example of how successful the Department of Homeland Security has been in creating a fearful population, not demanding facts, easily distracted by obvious rumors. .
Report Post »Rollo2
Posted on March 25, 2011 at 6:20pmHe decided to commit suicide over Detroit because it was cheaper?
He was saving the rest of his cash for a “rainy day”? His old age? Maybe this explains the lack of detonation?
Report Post »CalvinandHobbes
Posted on March 25, 2011 at 4:24pmUsed to go to Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum on field trips when I was a kid. Detroit used to be a nice city (if you didn’t mind the smell from the ironwork factories). We used to go downtown by the river and the Ambassador Bridge to watch fireworks on the 4th of July. Sigh…
Report Post »nelan72
Posted on March 25, 2011 at 2:32pmHe picked the flight. Who picked his underwear ?
Report Post »red_white_blue2
Posted on March 25, 2011 at 2:10pmIt is ridiculous that we have to compremise security to prosecute a breach of security..ie: would be bomber. The lawmakers, uhmm Congress should figure a way around that..unless that is Barry signs an executive order that ‘repudiates’ it!!
Report Post »UlyssesP
Posted on March 25, 2011 at 1:17pmThe punk has more fiscal sensibility than Nancy Pelosi.
Report Post »pajamagram
Posted on March 25, 2011 at 10:09amDetroit, home of Northworse Airlines,
Report Post »JimmyP
Posted on March 25, 2011 at 12:03pmPJgram,
News Flash – Northwest doesn’t exist.
Stick to the topic, fella!
Thanks!
Report Post »JohnnyJT South Philly
Posted on March 25, 2011 at 9:16amI guess they will be charging alot more money now.
Report Post »bkfirvine
Posted on March 25, 2011 at 4:13amCleveland offers cheap flights too!
Report Post »MeteoricLimbo
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 10:47pmbottom dollar bombing
Report Post »blatzkeg
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 9:27pmthat idiot was put on a plane does he look smart enough to get on by himself
Report Post »NancyBee
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 10:13pmYou’ve got a very good point!
Report Post »LadyIzShy
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 8:54pmthe progressives have DISTROYED Detroit. thats why its such a cheap flight.. nothing there now except the extreemly poor because they can not get out. They are waiting for the government to fix things up for them..
Report Post »Ozymandias
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 8:27pmHad the “Fruit of the Boom” bomber’s explosive WORKED, it would have done something the citizens of Detroit will not. Detroit is on parallel with any third world city and is rapidly becoming the Islamic capital of the U.S. behind of course Chicago. If we were going to give the U.S. an enema, Detroit is where we’d stick the tube. Islam and Mohammad, may peas be upon them, LOL!
Report Post »CatB
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 11:30pmActually it is the Islamic capital of the U.S. … and the largest outside of the middle east … Dearborn a suburb of Detroit.
http://www.planetizen.com/node/11375
Report Post »texanpatriot
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 8:09pmNot only did the idiot choose the cheapest price, which turned out to be Detroit, but he paid cash and took a one-way flight. If he was smart would he have put a bomb in his underwear to begin with???
Report Post »Makes me cringe, if you know what I mean.
On the other hand, our Prez just picked the lady who forbade the FBI and the CIA from talking in the ‘90s which was a key factor that lead to 911. So our Prez does not seem very smart himself.
teddrunk
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 7:49pmWhat kind of idiot terrorist picks Detroit. The city that already looks bombed out from the ‘67 riots.
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 7:48pmwe heard gales of laughter coming from a vet’s laptop.. he was read TheBlaze and laughing because the bomber picked DETROIT for CHEAP .. whatever, it sure tickled him.
Report Post »riseandshine
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 7:36pmunderwear bomber…lol…al qaeda…lol
Report Post »SnapTie
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 7:01pmA bomb over Detroit? Really,last time in Detroit i though it already was bombed out.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 7:24pmMy point exactly!
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 8:40pmFlight are cheap going into Detroit, very expensive leaving, that’s where they make their money.
Report Post »EqualJustice
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 6:53pmHAHAHHAHAHAHHA Who goes to DETROIT anymore? hahahahaha funny stuff.. ask Crowder. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hhJ_49leBw
Report Post »cheezwhiz
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 8:57pmIt wasn’t about WHERE the flight was heading,
Report Post »all that panty bomber wanted was to EXPLODE a plane full of passengers over AMERICAN sky on CHRISTMAS day, and claim his 72 Helen Thomases.
I wonder how that meeting would have gone after he had exploded his panty covered area
CatB
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 6:40pmYes .. well who would choose to go “blow up” a city that the PROGRESSIVES have already destroyed for any other reason than the ticket was cheaper?!!!
Report Post »GONESURFING
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 7:01pmDetroit huh ? since he didn‘t intend to get there iI guess t really didn’t matter.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 7:04pmToo bad he didn’t try Vegas, what goes on in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
Report Post »It‘s a good thing he didn’t use his Miles, thank goodness for blackout dates, otherwise he could have upgraded and went to Cleveland. (Moon over Parma…)
cheezwhiz
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 8:15pmCheap B@$2@rd indeed…but I guess it runs in their ilk.
Report Post »Remember the 1993 WTC bombers were caught when one dolt went to take back his security deposit of $ 400 for the Ryder truck :D
Showtime
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 8:23pmHi, CatB!
I was right in the middle of a comment when the phone rang. Then I took my dog out and then refreshed the page.
Detroit? I don’t even like to look at pictures of Detroit, and I can see NO reason for anyone to go to Detroit. Seems to me that would be the last place anyone would consider dying in/at.
Geez! How does our government hold up? I’m burned out. (But not by a bomb.)
Report Post »Journeywoman
Posted on March 25, 2011 at 5:36amWas at a hospital in Dearborn this evening. They had a hospital vehicle with BOMB SQUAD & K9 unit on it. A HOSPITAL vehicle, not a police vehicle. There were also at least a dozen security guards roaming around. Dearborn used to be a very nice place. Unfortunately, efforts to keep it nice were met with charges of “racism” (the main park was restricted to residents and their guests only). Now look at it. I was glad when they transferred my mother to Henry Ford Detroit. They only had a metal detector in the ER. I guess I should be glad it isn’t 2014. They probably would have just given her a pill.
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on March 25, 2011 at 6:52amMakes perfect sense. Why have cheap flights to a popular destination? Try to get people to fly to a toilet by lowering the cost of tickets and at the same time lure the fiscally responsible terrorist trying to save the Jihad a few bucks.
Report Post »sleazyhippo
Posted on March 26, 2011 at 9:21amPulled from TV! The Department of Homeland Security has been Successful in creating a fearful population, not demanding facts, easily distracted by rumors. .
Report Post »