The Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad is commenting on a just-released, preliminary Dutch government report on “what happened at the Dutch airport where the would-be bomber transferred.”
Parts of what the Handelsblad is reporting:
“It would not be exaggerating to say the world has escaped a disaster,” Dutch home affairs minister Guusje ter Horst said at a press conference on Wednesday. But she added that although Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s thwarted attack on flight NW253 from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day was prepared professionally, it was poorly executed.
Ter Horst presented the results of the preliminary investigation by the Dutch authorities on behalf of justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin, who is currently on vacation in the US. The suggestion raised Monday that the suspect met an accomplice at Schiphol is still under investigation.
According to the Handelsblad, the Dutch Minister claims that no mistakes were made at Schiphol airport, and that all safety procedures were carried out properly. Referring to a statement from the minister:
Abdulmutallab held a valid visa to the US and the passenger list submitted to the US authorities prior to the flight did not trigger them to demand extra security measures. The suspect did not leave the customs area during his transfer and was subjected to a metal detection check, a statement from the ministers read. “This check did register anything out of the ordinary.”
However, after consulting with US authorities, the Dutch Justice Minister has decided to soon start using the available body scanners on passengers travelling to the US, “even though a decision on their routine use is still pending in Brussels.” And, ”Until all radio wave scanners are in place, passengers on US bound flights will be searched at Schiphol.”
The Dutch Minister claims : “Our view now is that the use of millimetre wave scanners would certainly have helped detect that he had something on his body, but you can never give 100 percent guarantees,” and that Abdulmutallab wore the improvised explosive device on a part of his body where “it would not have been found during a search either.”
Read the full NRC column here
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.