Beware “Underwear 2″: TSA Chief Offers Rare al Qaeda Bomb Details

[The Straight Story]

Beware “Underwear 2?: TSA Chief Offers Rare al Qaeda Bomb Details

A "next generation" device that could have slipped past airport security, and the evil genius behind it

For many Americans, airline security is an onerous and even excessive burden. But in remarks at a national security forum on Friday, Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole illustrated why the federal government is still on high alert. Speaking in unusual detail, Pistole offered specifics about an underwear bomb devised by a master al Qaeda bomb-maker in Yemen meant to be exploded in an airliner over the United States last year. The plot was foiled thanks to a double-agent inside al Qaeda’s Yemen branch, in a case that has also become the subject of a controversial Justice Department leak investigation.

In an exchange with ABC News reporter Brian Ross at the 2013 Aspen Security Forum, Pistole described the bomb as “Underwear 2,” a successor to the underwear bomb worn Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to detonate on Northwest Flight 253 near Detroit on Christmas Day 2009. Abdulmutallab’s bomb fizzled, severely injuring his groin but no one else.

Pistole described the May 2012 bomb as “a next generation device” that was “new and improved in many respects” from the Christmas 2009 bomb. Designed by one of the most wanted terrorists in the world, Ibrahim al-Asiri, the device featured “a new type of explosive that we had never seen,” Pistole said. “All of our explosive detection equipment… wasn’t calibrated to detect that. And all of our 800 bomb-sniffing dogs had not been trained for that specific type.”

http://swampland.time.com/2013/07/19/beware-underwear-2-tsa-chief-offers-rare-al-qaeda-bomb-details/

Wait, so there is a new most wanted terrorist in the world? Bet the NSA could find him in no time - just tap into my phone records or something.....

I think the answer is more spying and less freedoms. That one guy in 7 billion could be anywhere, right? Hell he might be working at the 7 eleven down the street as a cover.

This is why I don't buy and wear underwear. It could be a trap. Walking along and my undies explode. We need a 3 day waiting period to buy underwear and background checks (and close the yard sale/craig list loophole on em too).

[In_The_Wind]

1. Kicked & Recommended

No undies for me!

[The Straight Story]

2. I am starting to wonder if they could find this guy but don't want to

Kind of like bush probably could have gotten bin laden but needed a boogeyman to keep people afraid.

Funny how fear sells (and seems a lot of folks use it) and the product we end up buying is perceived security at a cost of privacy.

[In_The_Wind]

3. It gives them more reasons to LOOK at everyone.

[leveymg]

7. I'm starting to wonder about the "genius" part - none of his bombs have worked.

His bio reveals that the only bomb that Ibrahim al-Asiri made that actually killed anyone was the one worn by his brother which exploded killing the brother instead of the Saudi Interior Minister. The Underwear bomb was a dud, the FedEx toner cartridge bomb didn't bring down the cargo jet. Other bombs designed according to AQ plans have been equally unsuccessful: the Shoe Bomber couldn't get his fuse lit, even something as routine as the Times Square car bomb -- thousands of car bombs have exploded fatally over the years - was a fizzle. It doesn't take a genius.

The common denominator in all these cases, aside from the mysterious Mr. Genius Bomber, was Anwar al-Awlaki, who also (we are told) miraculously escaped the long arm of US intelligence for a very long time from since before 9/11 (he was the caretaker for the Flt. 77 hijackers most of the time they were in the US), all the while that he's been under intense surveillance. Even after the US Gov't had him in custody in 2003, they released him. There were suggestions floating around within the Muslim community, going back to 1995, that al-Awlaki was an agent provocateur. Could be.

[bluedeathray]

4. They've got to justify those budgets

And plan for the growth that they "need" for future threats.

Don't bother pointing out that our "threat" level would go down substantially if we just stop pissing people off, and acting like an Imperial power.

[dipsydoodle]

5. Underwear 2 is probably just heavily used underwear

to mask the smell of the explosives.

[The Straight Story]

6. Well hell, I can manufacture that. Or just go to a yard sale in Kentucky and get some