A little over a week after the alleged terrorist attack aboard an American aircraft, a pattern is emerging. While European writers tend to think new U.S. rules for passengers are ineffective if not absurd, many Arab columnists believe that the suspicious aspects of the case suggest that some kind of plot to demonize Muslims and extend the war on terror is involved.
For the Iraqi newspaper Sotal Iraq, columnist Dawood Al Basri writes in part:
Everything in the case of Umar Farouk suggests that there’s a lot more than storms and clouds in the air.
Suddenly, after a long silence in regard to global terrorist operations against aviation security, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab shows up, or indeed, is made to show up, as part of a new terrorist ploy in the form of powdery explosives hidden in his underwear! This means that Muslim and Arab travelers, in order to cross security checkpoints at the world’s airports, must now remove their pants to certify their security credentials! And as you know, this very stressful process is enough to push a person to travel in their underwear if only to avoid delays and the humiliation that comes from being subject to such doubt and suspicion!
The way this operation was executed suggests that it was merely a set up to lure the media and expand the scope and depth of a new chapter in the war on terror.
Also strange and surprising is that Western intelligence services claim to have had detailed information about this young man from Nigeria, including about his extremism and warnings from his father about his behavior! And despite all this, he moves and flies freely, traveling around the world, coming and going in comfort whenever he likes until the last moment when he bursts out at the level of the American presidency.
The case of Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab of Nigeria suggests that there’s a hidden hand behind it, and that there are more than storms and clouds in the air! This is terrorism on demand.
By Dawood Al Basri
Translated By Nicolas Dagher
January 2, 2010
Iraq – Sotal Iraq – Original Article (Arabic)
Everything in the case of Umar Farouk suggests that there’s a lot more than storms and clouds in the air.
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