This was the first quote from Janet Napolitano, Director of Homeland Security about the failed attempt to blow up the Northwest Airlines plane from Amsterdam to Detroit. “The system worked”. Let’s see, the system failed to deny the 23 year old Nigerian, Umar farouk Abmulmutallab a visa even though it was known that he might have ties to al Qaeda. And, still knowing this, the system failed to put him on the no fly list for flights coming to the US. How then did the system work? I guess, because the device failed to detonate and the passengers took matters into their own hands and subdued the man, the system worked. Questioned further, the always nimble Napolitano, looking like a deer in the headlights, elaborated by saying: “we notified all other aircraft in the air headed to the US from foreign airports to be alert. That’s good, if the bombs and bombers are already aboard it’s always nice to know.
I have been writing about the incompetence of this woman since she was named to this job. If you recall, she never once mentioned the terms terrorist or terrorism in her congressional approval hearing.
I’m sure her first priority is to make sure old Umar gets his Miranda rights and is comfortable. With help from Eric Holder they can make sure he is treated like a dignitary. Of course, he can’t be sent to Gitmo since it’s being subtracted not added, and our vacant prison in Illinois is not quite ready to receive guests like Umar.
Interrogation is out of the question. Even though Umar might know of another dozen plots like this, we must not do more than ask him kindly if he would like to share that information with us. After we get him a lawyer, of course.
You want to know why Dick Cheney has been out there beating the drum about homeland security? This is why. We have many bad people who want to do many bad things to us here in America and we have very incompetent people trying to protect us. Being nice to radicals seems to be a theme of Obama and his administration. How’s it working in Iran? Nuclear work goes on and rioting in the streets against those who want to use the nuclear product is met with total silence from Washington.
Meanwhile el Qaeda recruiting seems to be doing well despite the big plan to close Gitmo at enormous expense.
We got lucky this time. But, not because the system worked or because we have people in place who are on top of their games. Hopefully our luck will hold until others question the person who make “the system worked” comment. Then fire her and hire someone who can do the job so we can all sleep at night.
