Topic: Nigerian with reported Al Qaeda link attempts bomb attack on US airliner

[Dennis Ruhl]

Do you think we should excuse his or her lack of attention to detail, professionalisim and diligence just because he or she doesn't make $30/hour?  At what pay rate should we hold people responsible for such trivial things as safeguarding a few hundred lives?

I am just saying that the system is the problem.  When the whole point is to do the job as cheaply as possible you are probably competing with fast food for workers.  Of course the employee should be fired but will he/she be replaced by one of equal abilities.

[muskrat89]

Well in the US I don't think they are "low bid" or even contracted. They're Federal employees and it looks like they start out at about 13-14 bucks/hour.  www.tsa.gov

[Jammer]

That's a pretty narrow view of a system that has a lot moving parts to work effectively.
It goes a lot deeper than the screener at the gate.
Inter-agency squabbles, complacency or overconfidence among high level govt departments responsible for the many "watch lists"...(8 at the last count).
The list goes on and on.

[Old Sweat]

The people that screwed this up badly were not jusy the screeners at the airport. Admittedly somebody did not react when apparently he purchased a one-way ticket with cash and did not have any luggage to check. There are also fingers to be pointed at the US security and intelligence system which did not react to what were some pretty clear signals in advance of the event.

[Sprinting Thistle]

The result of this latest attempt will be the deployment of full body screening units.  The Dutch are already moving on this.  Canada was testing them recently and some airports had intended to deploy them however we can expect to see the rapid implementation of these units swiftly.  These are the units that a passenger walks thru and it captures a body image at the most detailed level.  Civil libertarians view these systems as completely invasive of personal privacy. 

The challenge with no-fly or watch lists are national and international privacy laws.  Nations cannot achieve consensus on privacy and as such the exchange of information on national watch lists runs up against these laws.  Terrorists and trans-national criminals know this and exploit the loop holes. 

[PanaEng]

PETN is commonly the primary filler in military grade detonators....

I like the comment" commonly used as an explosive," it is an explosive, and a very powerful one (one of the most powerful)....

As for means of initiation of any explosive device, not my bag to add to get into that here....

Other uses: (from Wikipedia)

Like the related explosive nitroglycerin (glyceryl trinitrate), PETN is also used medically as a vasodilator in the treatment of heart conditions. These drugs work by releasing the signaling gas nitric oxide in the body. A medicine for heart disease, Lentonitrat, is nearly pure PETN.[4]

For initiating it you need a primary explosive - some of which can be initiated by an appropriate liquid being added and starting the chemical reaction. It seems that he did not have enough of the primary explosive or got degraded iot initiate the PETN.

cheers,
Frank

[milnews.ca]

A bit of closure:  life sentence, no parole, for underwear bomber...

A Nigerian man accused of trying to bomb a US-bound flight on Christmas Day 2009 has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 25, pleaded guilty to attempting to blow up a commercial plane as a would-be suicide mission for al-Qaeda.

His family quickly called on the US government to review the sentence.

Abdulmutallab was badly burned when a bomb sewn into his underwear failed to detonate fully, prosecutors said.

Almost 300 people were on the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

Some of the passengers from the flight were in the courtroom as Federal Judge Nancy Edmunds announced the sentence.

"This was an act of terrorism that cannot be quibbled with," Judge Edmunds said, as she imposed the maximum sentence.

The son of a Nigerian banker and a former engineering student at University College London, Abdulmutallab faced eight counts against him, including terrorism and attempted murder.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a militant group based in Yemen, said it was behind the attempted attack ....

BBC, 16 Feb 12

[jollyjacktar]

Good to see Capt Underpants go down in flames like that.  If it was here, he'd be out lighting up his package again in a couple of years. 

[recceguy]

And life without parole over there means you go out in a box at the end.

Not like Canada's 10-25 year 'Life' terms

[jollyjacktar]

And life without parole over there means you go out in a box at the end.

Not like Canada's 10-25 year 'Life' terms

Agreed.  Life should be life.  Hopefully his is short.

[recceguy]

Agreed.  Life should be life.  Hopefully his is short.

 I hope he lives to be 100

He's not going anywhere.

[Sadukar09]

And life without parole over there means you go out in a box at the end.

Not like Canada's 10-25 year 'Life' terms

Declare him a dangerous offender and voila, indefinite imprisonment. 

[jollyjacktar]

I hope he lives to be 100

He's not going anywhere.

I'm thinking of this shitbird being housed by the taxpayer.  Why should they get screwed for the next 70+ years.  That's why I say short.  Unless there was a strong possibility to see his whole Jhiad ideals burn to the ground with it's complete system collapse world wide and we win totally.  Then, sure.  Just so he could see the abject failure of his belief system and be a double loser for the rest of his days.  Seeing as that's not going to happen.  Save the taxpayer some dough, short span.