Another Nigerian held at US airport, Officials: Second incident 'a non-threat'?! - Abdulmutallab refused British visa in May, Qaeda warned of attack

From the Wall Street Journal:

A man who was "acting belligerently" on a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight Sunday is not a terror threat and only became disruptive because he had fallen ill and refused to leave the aircraft's bathroom, according to a U.S. official.

The man was subdued by the flight crew and detained by law enforcement authorities upon landing after the incident bore strikingly similar markings to the attempt two days ago by a passenger to light an explosive aboard another Northwest flight. Both planes originated in Amsterdam, and both men were Nigerian, according to the U.S. official.

The unidentified man made several trips to the bathroom prior to the plane's descent, officials said, ultimately raising suspicions among flight staff. When he did not answer questions while in a lavatory about an hour before landing, flight staff contacted authorities and asked to have law enforcement authorities meet the plane upon landing...

But according to the U.S. official, the Federal Bureau of Investigation now considers the second incident "a non-threat."

"The guy was ill on the flight and insisted on staying in the bathroom when asked to take his seat," the official said.

A "non-threat"? Just a coincidence? Or White House damage control? Hmmm...

Fox News' anchor remains a bit skeptical:



Some pertinent information about Friday's incident [via the Daily Mail]:

Al Qaeda had warned of a terror attack four days before the incident, posting a video online from Yemen saying: 'We are carrying a bomb to hit the enemy.'

Authorities said Abdulmutallab was refused a new British visa in May while it emerged that the terrorist's own father had warned the U.S. that his son might have been radicalised. But of course, our own politically-correct administration would never tolerate that kind of prejudice and thus, issued a visa to the terrorist in an effort to raise the hopes of the indigent terrorist community.

Abdulmutallab, who, as I noted previously, belongs to one of Nigeria's richest families, was on a U.S. watchlist and there were reports that he might have previously 'crossed the radar' of the Security Service on the edge of another anti-terror inquiry. It was not considered threatening enough to have warranted placing him under surveillance.

A faulty fuse is believed to be all that prevented the terrorist from causing a catastrophe...

Rep. Pete Hoekstra told Fox News today that the Obama administration is downplaying the threat of terrorism by insisting on calling terrorism a man-made disaster, instead of using the term 'terrorism' - VIDEO

It should be noted, however, that in a memo sent from the Defense Department's office of security to Pentagon staffers several months ago, members were told, "this administration prefers to avoid using the term 'Long War' or 'Global War on Terror'. Please use 'Overseas Contingency Operation'." The term 'Man-made disater', as quoted by Mr. Hoekstra, would perhaps be better suited to describe the detrimental effect the Obama administration is having on US and Global security...

Also see previous post: Airplane attacker was listed in terror database, Vigilant passengers save 278 lives - and the future of the Obama Presidency