London Air Bomb Design May Also Trace To Ramzi Yousef
By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com
As many have noted today, the thwarted plot to bomb U.S.-bound airliners appears to date back to Ramzi Yousef's Bojinka 1995 plot.
But the plot may not be the only thing. Yousef's notebooks -- seized in Manila after his arrest -- contained copious notes on the use of peroxide and hydrogen peroxide in liquid-based bombs with a conventional battery detonator.
The major media outlets were reporting late today that the bombs in the latest plot had a peroxide base.
Ramzi Yousef's bomb designs did not retire when he did. As recently as last year, Yousef's designs were being posted to jihadist Web forums.
One design in particular -- dating back to the 1994 Manila operation -- used a Casio digital watch as a detonator timer. The specific model was worn by numerous fighters captured in Afghanistan after September 11.
Bush Ups Rhetorical Heat By Calling Enemies 'Islamic Fascists'
By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com
In a short address today on the London terrorist threat against U.S. bound airliners, President Bush referred to America's enemies as "Islamic fascists."
The political terminology of the War on Terror is a complicated web of terms and characterizations. "Islamic fascist" or "Islamofascist" is considered highly offensive by many mainstream Muslims.
The perjorative is often applied very broadly to adherents of political Islam, which in turn is a phrase arguably applicable to mainstream Muslims, since Islam contains an inherently political component.
If Bush meant to employ the term consistent with its most common usage -- and given his history with language, he may not have -- it could represents a substantial escalation of the administration's definition of its "enemies" in the Arab-Muslim world and beyond.
If unintentional, the usage is notably insensitive and likely to produce controversy in the days to come.
TSA Releases Memo On Screening Of 9/11 Hijackers
By J.M. Berger
INTELWIRE.com
Nine of the 19 hijackers on September 11 were selected for additional security screenings before boarding their aircraft, according to a Transportation Safety Administration report obtained by INTELWIRE.
Read the ReportThe document, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, was cited in the Final Report of the the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9-11 Commission).
All five hijackers on American Airlines Flight 77 -- which crashed into the Pentagon -- had been identified and selected for additional screening. Two were selected for having insufficient ID, the other three were identified by a passenger profiling program.
However, the only security measure taken after the hijackers were identified was a positive passenger baggage match (PPBM), which checks baggage inventory against the passenger list -- a useless tactic in the case of September 11 or a "Bojinka" style attack such as the alleged plot intercepted by authorities in London today.
According to the report, three hijackers from American Airlines Flight 11 were selected for additional screening. One -- Ahmad al Haznawai -- was identified on United Flight 93. The checked luggage of these passengers were screened for explosives, again useless for an attack involving knives or in which the explosive material is transported in a carry-on.
