Terror Strikes Flight 253

On December 25, Umar Farouk Abdulmattab, a Nigerian-born Muslim attempted to detonate an explosive device in an act of terrorism on Northwest (Delta) Flight 253.  The transatlantic flight was approaching Detroit, en route from Amsterdam. 

The terror suspect was burned severely by the hand-made explosive device, and subdued on board by passengers and crew members while a small fire was extinguished.  Two passengers also sustained burns from the device. 

Following the incident, the plane made an emergency landing at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.  Abdulmuttalab was taken into custody by the FBI, and charged with attempting to destroy a civilian aircraft and placing a destructive device on board a plane.

Upon arrest, Abdulmattab claimed that he had ties to the terrorist organization al-Qaeda.  He is believed to have spent time in Yemen, a growing hotbed for terrorists linked to the al-Qaeda network.  One interesting detail to note, is that the assailant was a well-educated individual from a wealthy family. 

The New York Times reports:

His father, a prominent Nigerian banker, recently told officials at the United States Embassy in Nigeria that he was concerned about his son’s increasingly extremist religious views.

“The facts are still emerging, but there are strong suggestions of a Yemen-Al Qaeda connection and an intent to blow up the plane over U.S. airspace," Representative Jane Harman, a California Democrat who leads the House Homeland Security subcommittee on intelligence, said in a statement.

The suspect’s name was inserted last month into the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, or Tide. About 550,000 individuals are registered in the database. A subset of that is the Terrorist Screening Data Base, or T.S.D.B., which has about 400,000.

The attacker apparently used a chemical agent similar to the one used by "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, in his failed attempt to destroy the transatlantic American Airlines Flight 63 on December 22, 2001, just over 8 years ago to the day.

This current incident is the latest in an alarming string of terrorist plots threatening the lives of Americans.

Just weeks prior, lone terrorist Maj. Nidal Hassan gunned down 13 servicemen at the Ft. Hood Army base in Texas on November 5, 2009.

On June 1, 2009, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, an American-Muslim opened fire on a U.S. military recruiting office Little Rock, Arkansas. Private William Long was killed and Private Quinton Ezeagwula was wounded. 

Less than one month earlier, four Muslims with alleged links to a Pakistani terror organization   placed explosives they believed to be real outside of two synagogues in Bronx, New York.  The group was then planning to shoot down a plane at a military air base in upstate New York.  The suspects were placed under custody by local law enforcement working together with the FBI.

And while incidents are piling up with disturbing frequency, many Americans remain unaware or uninterested in the threats.  While this most recent attack failed, it was an attack on Americans flying over American airspace.  Had the explosive succeeded, perhaps many would take the attack more seriously. 

Subject experts who are watching the field of radical Islam closely, are noting that these terror-related incidents should be viewed for what they are: Potentially deadly acts of war by an enemy that has not been properly defined or addressed.

It is clear that this attack is another attack motivated by an extreme radical Islamic ideology that is bent on advancing its goals of defeating the West, by instilling chaos and fear across the world.

In a politically-correct age, it is difficult for many Americans to clearly identify the threat as it exists.  We have been taught to be tolerant of all beliefs.  However, a line must be drawn when individuals, groups and even sovereign nations act in the name of religion to cause death and destruction.

This is terror, and it should not be tolerated. 

Unfortunately, it will be impossible to combat the terror threat fully until a critical mass of Americans has internalized the dangers.

Learn more about the threat with an exclusive clip (2 min) from the award-winning documentary Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West: http://www.obsessionthemovie.com/clips_war.html

And learn more about the threat as it pertains specifically to the United States with exclusive clips from the groundbreaking documentary The Third Jihad: Radical Islam's Vision for America:
http://www.thethirdjihad.com/exclusive_clips_test.php