Yemen link claimed in apparent al-Qaeda Christmas terror attempt

CounterVortex

The senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), says he has information the suspect in the apparent thwarted Christmas Day terrorism attempt may have had contact with Anwar al-Awlaki, the Yemen-based radical imam with ties to the suspect in the Fort Hood shootings. The incident on Northwest Airlines flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit “definitely appears to be al-Qaeda-related,” King said. “This was not a firecracker. This was for real.” (Bloomberg, Dec. 26)

Anwar al-Awlaki was initially said to have been possibly killed in government air-strikes in Shabwa, Yemen, Dec. 24. But a friend of the cleric, Abu Bakr al Awlaki (of the same clan but not the same family), denied this, as did local tribal chiefs. (AP, Dec. 26)

See our last posts on Yemen and al-Qaeda.

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  1. Christmas terror suspect was barred from UK
    The son of a prominent Nigerian banker, who allegedly attempted to blow up a transatlantic flight over America, was barred from returning to Britain earlier this year. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, graduated from a university in London last year but his visa request was refused in May when he attempted to apply for a new course at a bogus college. Abdulmutallab, described as a devout Muslim, attempted to ignite an explosive device on a plane from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day after shouting about Afghanistan. (London Times, Dec. 26)

    Abdulmutallab has been charged by US authorities. “Had this alleged plot to destroy an airplane been successful, scores of innocent people would have been killed or injured,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement. Federal authorities are said to be investigating his potential ties to al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen. (Reuters, Dec. 26)

  2. Conspiranoids descend on Christmas terror attempt
    The conspiranoids at InfoWars.com have posted the following undated CNN clip under the lurid title “BOMBSHELL: Evidence Clearly Indicates Staged Attack on Detroit Flight.” One Kurt Haskell, a Michigan attorney who was on the Amsterdam-Detroit flight on Christmas Day, claims a “wealthy looking Indian man” accompanied a “poor-looking Black teenager” he later identifies as the bombing suspect to the ticket gate, and somehow persuaded the security personnel to allow him onto the plane without a passport.

    As one YouTube commenter notes, the “poor so called Black kid was a rich kid from Nigeria.” And not only that, but a grown man, not a teenager. Even if we dismiss such discrepancies and assume this Haskell is telling the truth—well, it is an interesting anomaly, but the conclusion InfoWars jumps to is bizarre. The well-dressed Indian guy was a CIA agent who intimidated the Dutch airport personnel into letting a terrorist onto the flight? Huh?

    Maybe we should be comforted that the Dutch are more mellow about security, instead of viewing it as sinister. It seems like the conspiranoids and the Consensus Reality crowd they so despise are both longing for a perfect police state to protect us all…

    The conspiranoids are also jumping on widespread claims that there was an accomplice aboard the flight. ABC News reports Jan. 28:

    Federal agents also tell ABCNews.com they are attempting to identify a man who passengers said helped Abdulmutallab change planes for Detroit when he landed in Amsterdam from Lagos, Nigeria.

    Authorities had initially discounted the passenger accounts, but the agents say there is a growing belief the man have played a role to make sure Abdulmutallab “did not get cold feet.”

    But how does this point to a “false flag” operation? This accomplice could just as easily have been from al-Qaeda as the CIA or Illuminati or whoever. But some people have already made up their minds, and will interpet any anomaly to fit their pre-fab all-purpose theory.