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Home Front: WoT

Wealthy, quiet, unassuming: Christmas Day bomb suspect

2009-12-27

The inside story of the privileged student who embraced al-Qa'ida and tried to blow a transatlantic jet out of the sky - and the lessons for us all

He was a quiet man ...

With his wealth, privilege and education at one of Britain's leading universities, Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab had the world at his feet -- able to choose from a range of futures in which to make his mark on the world.

Instead, the son of one of Nigeria's most important figures opted to make his impact in a very different way -- by detonating 80g of explosives sewn into his underpants, and trying to destroy a passenger jet as it came in to land at Detroit Airport on Christmas Day.

As he was charged by US authorities last night with attempting to blow up an airliner, a surprising picture emerged of the would-be bomber. Abdulmutallab, 23, had lived a gilded life, and, for the three years he studied in London, he stayed in a £2m flat. He was from a very different background to many of the other al-Qa'ida recruits who opt for martyrdom.

The charges were read out to him by US District Judge Paul Borman in a conference room at the medical centre where he is receiving treatment for burns. Agents brought Abdulmutallab, who had a blanket over his lap and was wearing a green hospital robe, into the room in a wheelchair.

Posted by:Steve White

#7 Getting really tired of the media and Govt citing that he was "self-radicalized" as if it happens in a vacuum...the common denominators never mentioned are:
1) Wahhabi Mosque
2) Wahhabi Imam
3) Wahhabi Propaganda

Posted by: Jack Salami 2009-12-27 12:09

#6 "Abdulmutallab's background has confounded terror experts. Dr Magnus Ranstorp of the Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defence College..."
The headline should have been:
"Experts Confounded" (In the USA it would have been "Experts Surprised")

Posted by: Muggsy Glink 2009-12-27 11:32

#5 Israeli style screening would, in addition to costing lots of $$$, also result in increasing wait times.

The solution is a combo of technology, behavioral screening and profiling. Unfortunately, the latter two go against PC.

Posted by: lord garth 2009-12-27 10:49

#4 "He was shaking. He didn't resist anything. It's just hard to believe that he was trying to blow up this plane. He was in a trance. He was very afraid."

Wrong conclusion. It was OBVIOUS that he was contemplating a horrific act involving his own death.

This is why the Israelis use trained psychological screeners to interview everyone about to board an Israel-bound plane. It's very easy to suss out a terrorist with just a few simple questions - whereareyougoingtoday, whatareyoudoingthere, whydoyouhaveasyringestickingoutofyourlowerpantslegsir?

It works, has done so for decades. The cost would be a billion or two. A bargain.

Posted by: lex 2009-12-27 09:11

#3 Do you remember the good ole days, when a Nigerian would only try to scam you out of money?

Posted by: IG-88 2009-12-27 09:01

#2 interestingly,the election of Barack Obama is a factor in that, because, whatever you think of him as a president, the fact of him shows young people that there is an alternative to killing yourself

Sure. You can kill infidels. Especially those who worship false idols like The One.

Posted by: lex 2009-12-27 08:57

#1 Clearly a desperate young man, driven to extremism by a mixture of anguish, hopelessness, poverty and anger at President Bush.

Posted by: lex 2009-12-27 08:56

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