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Home Front: WoT
Napolitano: "The system worked"
2009-12-27
DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said that the thwarting of the attempt to blow up the Amsterdam-Detroit flight this week demonstrated that "the system worked."

Asked by CNN's Candy Crowley on "State of the Union" how that could be possible when the young Nigerian who sought to set off the bomb was able to smuggle explosive liquid onto the flight, Napolitano responded: "We're asking the same questions."

Napolitano added that there was "no suggestion that [the bomber] was improperly screened."
Posted by:tipper

#38  Oddly enough, I do not hear the MSM prattling along as with Mr. Bush and his media-perverted "Mission Accomplished"....
Posted by: Uncle Phester   2009-12-27 22:09  

#37  Napolitano's 'message' is "The System Worked". That is the message TeamObama expects the media to repeat ad infinitum.

Folks who question The Message must be dangerous right-wing militia Bush-loving rantburgers. Pay no attention.
Posted by: Skunky Glins****   2009-12-27 20:34  

#36  I first thought this was produced by the Onion newspaper.

All I have to say boils down to - what the FRAK???
Posted by: Mizzou Mafia   2009-12-27 20:05  

#35  Now hear this! Now hear this! This is 'Brand Obama' speaking. All hands on deck. All hands on deck.

Interesting to watch the damage control scramble going on the DHS, FBI, the WH.
Posted by: Besoeker   2009-12-27 18:47  

#34  The fact that the bomber got explosives on the plane shows the system did not work, you fucking tools.

DHS couldn't find their ass with both hands super glued to it.
Posted by: DarthVader   2009-12-27 18:33  

#33  Being on the receiving end of DHS Intel and Analysis messages on this at the FOUO/LES level, suffice it to say they were utterly clueless and scrambling to find anything to say. System worked my ass.......
Posted by: NoMoreBS   2009-12-27 17:31  

#32  Rahm has been dispatched to make more room under the bus.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2009-12-27 16:35  

#31  

Will Monchichi resign? Stay Tuned!
Posted by: Unimble Dingle2387   2009-12-27 16:23  

#30  Too late for the holidays, but....
Posted by: Besoeker   2009-12-27 16:23  

#29  Drugged and naked. That will be the requirement to fly.
Posted by: Glenmore   2009-12-27 16:17  

#28  This is not really "bombing-bombing" according to Whoopie G.
Posted by: JohnQC   2009-12-27 16:16  

#27  Look, she probably views the plane flying all those unimportant people around and creating plant-food as the major man created problem, not the bomber.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2009-12-27 16:10  

#26  The system did not work. DHS/TSA had nothing to do with preventing this.

Sorry to point this out JohnQC but you obviously misunderstand that purpose of "the system".

Napaolitano and her ilk, all the way to Zero himself, view "secuity" as a first responder. Their job is not to prevent attacks but to provide political cover after the fact to all the members of the regime.

In that case the system is working. See Ms. Skolaut.
Posted by: AlanC   2009-12-27 15:54  

#25  Dumb luck and ineptitude by AQ and this spoiled splodadope dupe is what prevented this plane from being blasted out of the sky. The system did not work. DHS/TSA had nothing to do with preventing this. Doesn't give me a lot of confidence in flying or the abilities of our government to prevent aircraft bombings by terrorists. I'd probably feel better if we just armed the passengers to prevent these kinds of incidents [only meant about half facetiously].

So will this terrorist or man made disaster waiting to happen get treated as a common criminal or will he be taken him out and shot post haste as a terrorist enemy of the U.S.A. That will go a long way towards prevention of wannabe boombers in the future--at least this one.
Posted by: JohnQC   2009-12-27 15:12  

#24  Correction: he People worked, the System still sucked.

However, we pushed the margin of error to the edge of the envelope. You cannot defend yourself against every binary chemical reaction that produces an explosion, toxic substance, or poison gas. You have to go after the potential perps.

Napolitano is surrounded by a human wall of TSA agents, so she is safe.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2009-12-27 15:07  

#23  The "system" worked so well, the terrorists tried it again! Reports are coming out, that it is now happening again. Same flight number, even -- Amsterdam to Detroit, etc, etc
Posted by: Sherry   2009-12-27 14:52  

#22  "The system worked"

Translation:

"I still have my job"
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2009-12-27 14:40  

#21  well, they both like da wymyns
Posted by: Frank G   2009-12-27 14:12  

#20  BTW Bobby (#4) I heard the Judge emphatically deny any family relationship during a FOX interview.
Posted by: tipover   2009-12-27 13:50  

#19  Resignation 4:55 Thursday.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2009-12-27 13:46  

#18  "Bare wire in the fuel tank."

My thoughts precisely Glenmore.
Posted by: Besoeker   2009-12-27 13:30  

#17  And if the 'system' had NOT worked, we wouldn't know it - we would be trying to explain how a bare wire in a fuel tank or a lightning strike or such caused a Christmas tragedy. The very first words from authorities when the plane fell off radar would have been "This is not a terrorist incident. (We have no clue what it IS, but we know it isn't terrorism.)"
Posted by: Glenmore   2009-12-27 13:23  

#16  Of course "the system" worked. She got the press release out in time, appeared on the Legacy Media (probably without saying "Muslim" or some other doubleplusungood word), and issued yet another stupid restriction that will do absolutely nothing to prevent another attack.

What more did you want Man-et to do?
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie   2009-12-27 13:22  

#15  The bomber stayed in his seat. The guy who STOPPED HIM did not.

A horrifying thought has occurred to me: What if the goal is to possibly end up with an airplane wreck full of dead people 'because someone tried to stop him'? And at that point we're told, "Don't resist, don't fight, look what happens when we do..."

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2009-12-27 13:16  

#14   Are we to assume that people placed on the "terrorist and potential terrorist watch list" as known or suspected terrorists ....are still eligible to fly on US air carriers?

Besoeker, I assume that what they got was something along the lines of the father saying to a clerk at the embassy, "Look, I've got a son who was a bit of a religious nutcase as a kid, may have gotten in with the wrong crowd at university in England, and has now disappeared. I'm afraid he might have gotten into jihadi circles." If the lad didn't show up on any lists of contacts, wasn't seen by spies or overhead electronically, how could our guys justify putting him on a No Fly list? At best he was a possible known, as Mr. Rumsfeld might have put it, nothing more.

And remember, the father was a Nigerian big-shot. This could have been a matter of an inappropriate response to a father-son spat -- the embassy clerk would have had no way of knowing until something confirmatory came across the wire. Much like all the false leads the police get when they ask for help in a case.
Posted by: trailing wife   2009-12-27 13:13  

#13  Napolitano: "The system worked"

Let me translate for you - 'No bureaucrats were hurt or will be hurt by this event.'
Posted by: Procopius2k   2009-12-27 13:08  

#12  Napolitano: 'Away From the Politics of Fear'

SPIEGEL: Madame Secretary, in your first testimony to the US Congress as Homeland Security Secretary you never mentioned the word "terrorism." Does Islamist terrorism suddenly no longer pose a threat to your country?

Napolitano: Of course it does. I presume there is always a threat from terrorism. In my speech, although I did not use the word "terrorism," I referred to "man-caused" disasters. That is perhaps only a nuance, but it demonstrates that we want to move away from the politics of fear toward a policy of being prepared for all risks that can occur."
SPIEGEL: This sounds quite different from what we heard from the Bush administration. How will the new anti-terror policy differ from the previous one?

Napolitano: Our policies will be guided by authoritative information. We also have assets at our disposal now that we did not have prior to 9/11. For example, we are much better able to keep track of travellers coming into the US than we were before. The third thing is to work with our international partners and allies to make sure that we are getting information and sharing information in an appropriate and real-time fashion.
Posted by: tipper   2009-12-27 12:25  

#11  Unfortunately, not enough information turned up in the past six months to move him to a higher risk list. TW.

The logic somehow escapes me. Are we to assume that people placed on the "terrorist and potential terrorist watch list" as known or suspected terrorists ....are still eligible to fly on US air carriers?
Posted by: Besoeker   2009-12-27 12:06  

#10  Apparently "the system" includes taking responsibility for ourselves as passengers and jumping on anyone trying to kill us. Otherwise her comment is so breathtakingly stupid that the room should have erupted in uncontrollable laughter. If not, that tells us just how breathtakingly stupid "journalists" are as well.
Posted by: PBMcL   2009-12-27 11:51  

#9  Besoeker, it sounds like the result of the father's tattling, the lad's name was put on a list of people to watch. Unfortunately, not enough information turned up in the past six months to move him to a higher risk list. Which seems fair enough, if he spent a good piece of that time incommunicado while he was being trained in a far corner of Yemen rather than swanning around contacting known terror group members. Unknown unknowns, and all that.
Posted by: trailing wife   2009-12-27 11:31  

#8  More on this lad's father contacting the US Embassy in Lagos and issuing his warning please. An extra helping please....of what the embassy LEGAT (FBI representative) and US Intelligence (USI), ie, Chief of Station did after the contact.

Also a bit more on MI5/MI6 info and data and the UK's refusal to re-issue a visa.

Maybe some sort of 'special internal investigation' needs to be undertaken. Who can we get? No need contacting former FBI/CIA director William Webster however, he's currently busy with the Major Hasan damage control internal investigation.
Posted by: Besoeker   2009-12-27 11:15  

#7  This is perfectly in line with the Obamanation's creed of "First admit no wrong".

This is the typical response of a senior bureaucrat. This is the typical behavior of those without "skin in the game". This is what you can expect of Obamacare.
Posted by: AlanC   2009-12-27 11:05  

#6  Napolitano couldn't connect the dots with quad-core digital dot-connector.
Posted by: DMFD   2009-12-27 11:02  

#5  why on earth would the admin let this dunce go on TV without prepping her to avoid saying "the system worked"

unless the prep folks are as big dunces as she is
Posted by: lord garth   2009-12-27 10:54  

#4  Is this ditz in any way related to Judge Napolitano, who seems like a resonable (conservative) sort?
Posted by: Bobby at the Kids Place in Texas   2009-12-27 10:52  

#3  Fire Janet Napolitano Now

Glenn Reynolds' theory worked, yours didn't Janet.

She's unqualified and always has been.
Remainder of comment dumped. Let's keep it semi-reasonable, 'k?
Posted by: Parabellum   2009-12-27 10:32  

#2  Ditto. The TSA reaction was fairly moronic as well - under new rules, passengers must stay in their seat during the final hour of an international flight.

The bomber stayed in his seat. The guy who STOPPED HIM did not.
Posted by: DMFD   2009-12-27 10:17  

#1  this PC moron needs to go
Posted by: Frank G   2009-12-27 10:13  

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