"The System Worked" - Napolitano and an Unscripted Interview

As I've written fairly often, this isn't a political blog. I'm not dedicated to the premise that one politico, or one party, is always right; and that everybody else is always wrong.

That's not the same as having no opinions, though.

I think that Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano goofed recently. Big time. It's the sort of thing that can happen to anybody - particularly when trying to think on your feet.

"And one thing I'd like to point out is that the system worked."

The New York Times was kind enough to point out Ms. Napolitano's take on what she said yesterday, on CNN. Yesterday, it sounded like she thought that the system handled the little incident on Northwest Flight 253 over the Christmas weekend very well.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano now says that her remark - "And one thing I'd like to point out is that the system worked." - was taken out of context.

Fair enough. That sentence comes from a much longer interview on CNN's "State of the Union With John King." Candy Crowley was the host for this interview. As of this afternoon (December 28, 2009), CNN has a transcript of the interview online. Before making up your own mind, I suggest reading the whole transcript. Here's an excerpt:

"...Joining us now from San Francisco is homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano.

"(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

"CROWLEY: Secretary Napolitano, thank you so much for joining us. If I am about to get on a plane today in the U.S. or headed toward the U.S., I think my big question is, is this part of a larger plot, or do you think this is a lone wolf?

"NAPOLITANO: Well, right now, we have no indication that it's part of anything larger, but obviously the investigation continues. And we have instituted more screening and what we call mitigation measures at airports. So I would advise you during this heavy holiday season just to arrive a bit early, and to know that we are going to be doing different things at different airports. So don't expect to do the same thing at one airport when you transfer through to another airport.

"But the traveling public -- this is my message for you, Candy. The traveling public is very, very safe in this air environment. And while we continue to investigate the source of this incident, I think the traveling public should be confident in what we are doing now.

"CROWLEY: So, just to finish up on the question-- I do want to talk to you about security measures -- but do you think -- has there been any evidence of the Al Qaida ties that this suspect has been claiming?

"NAPOLITANO: Right now, that is part of the criminal justice investigation that is ongoing, and I think it would be inappropriate to speculate as to whether or not he has such ties.

"What we are focused on is making sure that the air environment remains safe, that people are confident when they travel. And one thing I'd like to point out is that the system worked. Everybody played an important role here. The passengers and crew of the flight took appropriate action. Within literally an hour to 90 minutes of the incident occurring, all 128 flights in the air had been notified to take some special measures in light of what had occurred on the Northwest Airlines flight. We instituted new measures on the ground and at screening areas, both here in the United States and in Europe, where this flight originated.

"So the whole process of making sure that we respond properly, correctly and effectively went very smoothly...."
(CNN) [emphasis mine]

Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano was rather clearly referring to actions of Flight 253's passengers and crew when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's wearable bomb failed to detonate properly, when she said: "And one thing I'd like to point out is that the system worked." That, and the way that the official system took no more than an hour and a half to let 128 other flights know that someone had tried to bring down an airliner.

For a large bureaucracy, that's doing pretty well.

As I wrote yesterday, it would have been nice if Mr. Abdulmutallab hadn't been allowed on the Northewest Flight 253 in the first place.

But, as it turned out, the bomb sewn into Abdulmutallab's underwear didn't detonate properly. He survived - and is out of the hospital now, I read - and everybody else survived, too.

So, if the homeland security system consisted entirely of alert passengers and flight crews; relied on terrorists having defective weapons; a certain amount of luck; and letting other flights know, after an attack, that there might be a terrorist on their airliners, too - then yes, the system worked very well.

Assuming that there's a reason for maintaining comparatively massive databases on possible and known terrorists - not so much.

And, now that there's been some criticism of her statement on CNN, Secretary Napolitano has clarified what she meant:

"...Ms. Napolitano said Monday on NBC'S 'Today' that her remark the day before — “the system has worked really very, very smoothly over the course of the past several days” — had been taken out of context. 'Our system did not work in this instance,' she said. 'No one is happy or satisfied with that. An extensive review is under way.'..."
(The New York Times)

"An extensive review is under way." If that review includes identifying what went wrong, and fixing the problem: good news. Note, please: identifying what went wrong, not finding someone to blame; and fixing the problem, not condemning someone in an effort to make critics feel better.

Related posts:

• "Northwest Flight 253: Near Miss on Christmas Weekend"
  (December 27, 2009)
• "Getting Called an Islamophobe, Saving Lives"
  (November 10, 2009)
• "Anita Dunn, John Ensign, and Beliefs"
  (October 21, 2009)
• "ACORN, News, and Business as Usual"
  (September 15, 2009)
• "Waterboarding, Moralizing, Politics, and Security"
  (April 23, 2009)
• "Obama Reaches Out to Taliban: This Might Actually Work"
  (March 8, 2009)
• "Nancy Pelosi's 757: Security, Common Sense, and Getting the Facts Straight"
  (December 10, 2008)

In the news:

• "Security System Failed, Napolitano Acknowledges "
  The New York Times (December 28, 2009)
• "US acknowledges flaws in air security"
  Financial Times (December 28 2009)
• "Security System Failed, Napolitano Acknowledges"
  The New York Times (December 28 2009)
• "Interview With Janet Napolitano"
  STATE OF THE UNION WITH JOHN KING, CNN (aired December 27, 2009)
• "Terror suspect out of hospital, held at undisclosed location"
  CNN (December 27, 2009)

Northwest Flight 253: Near Miss on Christmas Weekend

Northwest Flight 253, the airliner with Delta markings on the outside and a wannabe martyr on the inside, had a very close call this Christmas weekend.

News reports are filled with "allegedly" and statements from 'unnamed sources,' but the general outline of what happened is fairly clear.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, son of a wealthy Nigerian banker, got seat 19A and, when the airliner was in American airspace, ignited a device that was sewn into his underwear.

These days, when airline passengers hear a series of pops and see smoke and flames coming from a fellow-passenger, there'll be more than a casual interest taken. Happily, Jasper Schuringa and others dealt with the fire, and made sure that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab didn't have any more unpleasant surprises for them.

It looks like this was a near miss. Mr. Abdulmutallab had either done his homework quite well, or had good advice.

"...A former Homeland Security official told Fox News that Abdulmutallab's seat selection does not appear to be accidental, and that he was sitting in one of the two most vulnerable parts of the plane. The suspect was sitting in seat 19A, which is over the fuel tanks, atop the wing and next to the skin of the aircraft.

"There is a high likelihood an explosion could be accelerated by the fuel tank, the official said — and that it could damage the plane's structure and puncture the skin, bringing down the aircraft...."
(FOXNews)

An affidavit says that the device Mr. Abdulmutallab was carrying, and tried with limited success to set off, contained PETN, or pentaerythritol tetranitrate, which The New York Times says is a substance used by Richard "shoe bomb" Reid, back in 2001. According to Reuters and, for what it's worth, a comment to a New York Times article, Reid used TATP, or triacetone triperoxide. Well, I supposed Reid could have tried using both substances.

Northwest Flight 253: Uneventful, With One Exception

"...Passenger accounts and law enforcement officials describe the events around the Christmas Day attack this way:

"On December 24, Abdulmutallab traveled from Nigeria to Amsterdam and then on to Detroit with an explosive device attached to his body.

"Part of the device contained PETN, or pentaerythritol, and was hidden in a condom or condom-like bag just below Abdulmutallab's torso. ... Abdulmutallab also had a syringe filled with liquid.

"As the plane approached Detroit, Abdulmutallab went to the bathroom for 20 minutes. When he returned to his seat, he complained of an upset stomach and covered himself with a blanket.

"Passengers heard a popping noise, similar to a firecracker. They smelled an odor, and some passengers saw Abdulmutallab's pant leg and the wall of the airplane on fire. Passengers and the flight crew used blankets and fire extinguishers to quell the flames. They restrained Abdulmutallab, who later told a flight attendant he had an 'explosive device' in his pocket. He was seen holding a partially melted syringe...."
(FOXNews)

"They're all Muslims"? Hardly

There's a certain intellectual convenience to sorting humanity out into a few simple categories, and deciding that one or two of the groups are to blame for just about everything. When I was growing up, it was 'the commies' for quite a few Americans. Since then, it's been the military-industrial complex, big oil, and - more recently - Islam. (January 14, 2009)

I don't buy it.

In this case, since Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab apparently told investigators that he's connected with Al Qaeda, it looks like the airline-disaster-that-wasn't is connected with Islamic terrorism.

But that doesn't mean that all Muslims are terrorists. Any more than the KKK burning crosses a few decades back proves that all Christians are racists. It's simpler to see the world that way - but I don't think it's more accurate.

Wannabe Terrorist Outed by His Father

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's father, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, deserves a great deal of credit, I think. I've got four surviving children, and may have some idea as to what an emotional wrench it would be, to tell authorities that I believed one of them was likely to commit a crime. Or, in the case of Alhaji Umaru Mutallab's son, an act of terror.

Hats off to Alhaji Umaru Mutallab: that sort of thing takes guts.

"...Mr. Abdulmutallab's name was not unknown to American authorities. His father, a prominent Nigerian banker, recently told officials at the United States Embassy in Nigeria that he was concerned about his son's increasingly extremist religious views.

"As a result of his father's warning, federal authorities in Washington opened an investigative file and Mr. Abdulmutallab's name ended up in the American intelligence community's central repository of information on known or suspected international terrorists...."
(The New York Times)

Somebody Oughta Done Something!

Monday morning quarterbacking, 20-20 hindsight, whatever you want to call it, seems to be part of human nature. After something's happened, there's seldom a shortage of people who know what should have been done - and would have, presumably, if only they'd have been in charge.

People who actually hold responsible positions have the same limitations that everyone else has: they don't know what's happened, until it happens. In this case, nobody can go back to the loading gate for Northwest Flight 253 in Amsterdam and stop Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab from boarding.

That's already happened.

It's possible that someone dropped the ball - seriously - on the warning that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's father gave. President Obama's doing what an executive should do under the circumstances:

"...[White House press secretary Robert] Gibbs said the President, who is vacationing in Hawaii, aims 'to ensure that there is no clog in the bureaucratic plumbing of information that might be gathered.'..."
(New York Daily News)

From the sounds of it, quite a few members of Congress want to get their names involved with probes of what happened, too. When Capitol Hill gets done with them, the people getting investigated may feel like they've been targeted by mad plumbers with Roto-Rooters.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's background is emerging, too: although coverage seems to be fairly matter-of-fact, with headlines like "Sources: Terror suspect is son of bank executive, attended college" (CNN)

Two and a half years ago, the scion of a well-to-do family turning to terrorism would have been, I think, more puzzling. As I wrote, back in 2007:

"...When someone wearing explosive underwear was somehow related to poor people, the mass-murder-suicide perpetrator looked a lot like a revolutionary in the class struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie.

"When a doctor pops out of a flaming jeep in an air terminal, things get complicated...."
(July 3, 2007)

Bottom Line: Nobody Killed, and A Whole Lot of Review to Do

I'm no fan, as a rule, of hot-shot Congressional investigations. (March 22, 2009) There's a strong whiff of politics and grandstanding in too many of them. And, too often, an appalling degree of cluelessness.

Still, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab - under ideal conditions - would not have been allowed on Northwest Flight 253 with that bomb. And it looks like, somewhere between an American embassy and a boarding gate, his father's warning got misplaced. Or misinterpreted. Or something.

I applaud people involved with intelligence and security when they head off incidents like this. When it looks like someone dropped the ball: I hope the problem is found - and corrected.

Next time, the wannabe martyr's bomb may work the way it was supposed to.

Related posts:

• "Afghan Immigrant, Hydrogen Peroxide, New York City Subways, and a Close Call"
  (September 25, 2009)
• "Somalia, Minnesota, and Common Sense"
  (March 22, 2009)
• " 'They're all Muslims' - This Does Not Help"
  (December 29, 2007)
• "Oil is Nigeria's Problem?!! News from an Alternate Reality"
  (December 11, 2008)
• "A Better Class of Terrorist"
  (July 8, 2007)
• "Doctors, Terrorists, and the Proletariat: What's a Person to Think?"
  (July 3, 2007)

In the news:

• "Officials Point to Suspect's Claim of Qaeda Ties in Yemen"
  The New York Times (December 27, 2009)
• "President Obama orders security review after attack on Flight 253 by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab"
  New York Daily News (December 27, 2009)
• "Why did security checks fail to spot explosives?"
  CNN (December 27, 2009) (video)
• "Terror Suspect Wasn't Considered Threat"
  FOXNews (December 27, 2009)
• "Sources: Terror suspect is son of bank executive, attended college"
  CNN (December 26, 2009)
• "Father of Terror Suspect Reportedly Warned U.S. About Son"
  FOXNews (December 26, 2009)

Law, Islamic and American, or: The Case of the Lazy Son and 'Take My Family: Please!'

I saw the headline, "Son Taken to Court for Laziness, Gets 6 Months in Jail," in one of those 'latest news' summaries. That didn't sound like an American court: although parts of this country still take the work ethic seriously.

The Case of the Lazy Son played out in a Nigerian court, under Islamic law. Northern Nigeria, to be precise.

A frazzled father, Sama'ila Tahir, took his 20-year-old son to court. "He is not listening to words and he is bringing shame to my family. I am tired of his nefarious deeds. Please put this boy in prison so that I can be free," he said. Apparently, the 20-year-old wouldn't go to school and belonged to a criminal gang.

The kid (at my age, anyone under the age of about 25 is a 'kid') got 6 months in prison. Also 30 strokes of the cane, right there "on the premises."

Oh, the Horrors of Islamic Law!

Letting menfolk kill their women if they feel embarrassed is over the top, down the other side, and off a cliff. "Totally unacceptable" is the among the mildest ways I can describe that aspect of "Islamic" law, as practiced in some parts of the world.

I can't imagine a sentence like the Nigerian caning now/prison later being given in an American court. Particularly since the 20-year-old was punished "for being disobedient to his parents," (according to Reuters and the Nigerian state news agency). There's still a wisp of grooviness drifting through the halls of justice in America, with the hoplophobia and aversion to personal responsibility that goes with it.

On the other hand, although I can't imagine a sentence like this being given in an American court, I'm not going to rant about Islamic law.

• What passes for "Islamic Law" seems to be heavily influenced by local culture
  I've posted about this before
• Although caning is out of style in America, and disobedience is viewed as a virtue in some quarters, I can understand the Nigerian court's decision

Before I get accused of advocating child abuse, consider the possibility that this 20-year-old 'child' was actually refusing to learn useful skills, and had joined a criminal organization.

A caning and six-month time out might not be all that out of line. Remember, Nigeria isn't America. America's best and brightest have decided that everything from lethal beatings to swatting a diapered behind is 'corporal punishment.' And, as "everybody knows," corporal punishment leads to low self-esteem, psychological trauma, and burning rain forests. And must never, ever, ever be allowed under any and all circumstances.

So, Nigeria and America have different cultures, and different techniques for letting people know when they've broken the rules. It's high time that Americans learn that not everybody is an American, and that different cultures are just that: different.

Oh, the Unintended Consequences of American Law!

'People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks.'

American law can be a bit odd, too. An example: In July of this year, Nebraska lawmakers (the state Senate, not the courts) decided to protect babies by making it legal for parents to abandon their kids at designated hospitals. It's called a "safe haven law," and isn't the worst idea to come down the pike.

What the senators probably had in mind was the heart-wrenching image of some poor young woman, rejected by Society, alone and friendless, leaving a bundled-up infant at some caring state facility. In a snowstorm, most likely.

The problem is, while debating the law, Nebraska senators decided not to give an arbitrary age limit to abandonable kids, and instead wrote that it was okay for a parent to abandon a "child" at one of those hospitals.

The common law definition of "child" is someone under 14. But, some people think it means anyone under 19.

So, quite a few children have been dropped off at Nebraska hospitals. Including nine by one father. He doesn't sound like a lazy bum: His wife died in 2007, and he'd lost his job. Let's get real: emotional drain aside, feeding nine kids, about half of them teenagers, is a major expense.

To their credit, Nebraska lawmakers seem to be thinking about having another go at their "safe haven" law.

Islamic Law, Honor Killing, and Getting Real

I've run into some rabidly anti-Islamic rants lately: one in a comment left on this blog. That one claimed to have been posted in Iran.

This looks like a good time to say it again. The legal system of Islamic countries like Indonesia doesn't seem to be a problem. Or, no more so than any system run by human beings.

"Islamic Law," as defined by the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and other self-described defenders of Islam, is a problem. By any western standards since about the mid-18th century, that is. The current rulers of Burma/Myanmar might not find "Islamic" law, Taliban-style, too bad: as long as they were the judges.

It's the vision of Islam held by Al Qaeda and like-minded outfits that threatens

• America
• Every country where women are regarded as people, and men sometimes wear trousers
• Every Muslim who isn't 'sufficiently Islamic' by Taliban standards

I think that Afghanistan, while the Taliban was running the country, is a good example of what we have to look forward to, if Al Qaeda and company win.

In the news:

• "Nigerian father takes son to court for idleness"
  Reuters (October 17, 2001)
• "Nebraska Safe Haven Law Incurs Unexpected Number of Dropoffs"
  eFluxMedia (September 29 2008)
• "Father drops off 9 kids under Neb. safe haven law"
  Associated Press (September 25, 2008)