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| AQAP Printer Cartridge Bomb Had Precedent | |
| 2010-11-05 | |
| The plot is no surprise to intelligence officials, who recalled a similar terrorist plot in 1995 known as Project Bojinka. It was meant to be a large-scale attack planned by Ramzi Yousef and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, by al Qaeda affiliates in the Philippines, to blow up 12 airliners carrying a combined 4,000 passengers en route from Asia to the United States. The plot was uncovered "by luck," a U.S. official said.
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., ranking Republican on the Committee on Homeland Security, said the administration's policies have weakened the U.S. position to aggressively go after terror networks. While King praised the administration for its recent handling with the Yemen bomb plot, he said he's "very much concerned" about U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's push to try terrorists as criminals in U.S. courts. A U.S. official stationed in Afghanistan told The Examiner that al Qaeda and Taliban detainees "are wise to the fact that we have lost an enormous amount of power on what we can and can't do with them. It's as if we've given them the war book and they, terrorists, have more protection than we do." "We don't know our enemy," the U.S. official said. "But it seems our enemy knows us." U.S. authorities admitted Monday that the terrorists in Yemen came close to getting bombs through elaborate airport defenses. They believe there may well be more bombs that have not been located. King said that some policies initiated by Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan have plagued the intelligence community. "He, more than any homeland security adviser or national security adviser, runs policy," King said. "I know people in the intelligence community believe that he is making the decisions and has influence over the president and, of course, Congress. Because he is a White House employee I can't call him out for questioning or bring him before a congressional committee. He's running homeland security policy and is beyond the jurisdiction of Congress." | |
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