A kooky, misguided grudge

It turns out that yesterday's suicide attack that involved crashing a fully gassed up airplane into a government building was not, not I repeat, a terrorist attack. According to the print version of the local paper, it was a "grudge" that "became deadly."

The paper goes on to explain that the pilot was "angry" and that

in place of the typical portrait of a terrorist driven by ideology. Stack was described as generally easygoing, a talented amateur musician with marital troubles, and a maddening grudge against the tax authorities.

In the same story, a relative of the pilot adds that "a hang-up" was "undoubtedly the reason he flew the airplane against that building. Not to kill people, but just to damage the IRS."

Nope, crashing a bomb into an occupied building in the middle of the business day shows no murderous intent at all, and of course, the target was the IRS, not actual people. No hatred either, just a grudge and a hang-up.

No terrorism to see here folks, move along.

System of an almost downed airliner

On CNN's State of the Union program yesterday, Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, was discussing the near-tragedy on Northwest flight 253 over the Christmas holiday and barfed up this whopper, "one thing I'd like to point out is that the system worked."

This was perhaps the stupidest spin since then FEMA Director Michael Brown (also part of the Homeland Security Department; what is it with these folks?) said that things in New Orleans in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina were "going relatively well."

A system that allowed enough explosive onto an airliner to bring it down most definitely did not work.

We can all praise the heroism of the passengers and crew.

It is also possible that the existing security measures made things just difficult enough that the bomber could not operate his device.

However, the fact remains that the "system" allowed an identified security threat to carry explosive material onto a plane.

When asked about that threat, Sec. Napolitano replied,

...you have to understand that you need information that is specific and credible if you are going to actually bar someone from air travel. He was on a general list, which over half a million people, everybody had access to it. But there was not the kind of credible information, in the sense derogatory information, that would move him up the list.

So why didn't he get an extra search? What good is a "general list" if it doesn't at least lead to additional screening?

The Secretary has some 'splaing to do. She should begin by retracting yesterday's remarks. If she continues to stand by those remarks, the President should show her to the nearest exit.

UPDATE (12/28/2009 11:25 a.m.): Sec. Napolitano has now come out and said "Our system did not work in this instance ... Nobody is happy or satisfied with that. An extensive review is underway."

Apology?

In a video-taped message, a spokes-coward for Al Qaeda offered "condolences" to the many innocent Muslim victims of its violence.

A simple and more effective way to express genuine condolences would be to for Al Qaeda stop the slaughter of innocents altogether, including its violence directly targeting Muslims.

If that is too radical a notion for Al Qaeda, its murderers could start with the more modest steps of not hiding behind their women's skirts and under their children's beds.

A change in tactics and a tactical victory against Al Qaeda

The New York Times reports that one of the top Al Qaeda leaders in Africa, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, was killed on Monday. What's especially remarkable about the operation, though, was that Nabhan was killed directly by U.S. special forces.

American commandos killed one of the most wanted Islamic militants in Africa in a daylight raid in southern Somalia on Monday, according to American and Somali officials, an indication of the Obama administration’s willingness to use combat troops strategically against Al Qaeda’s growing influence in the region.

According to the article, the use of U.S. forces may have been a necessity. There may not have been time to organize an air strike or a missile launch.

However, it may reflect a shift in strategy, with the U.S. being willing to risk soldiers' lives to minimize civilian casualties.

Either way, U.S. forces succeeded in ridding the world of a key terrorist, one responsible for bombing an Israeli hotel and possibly collaborating on the bombings of American embassies in the late 1990s.