Plenty of competent people in the war against terrorists — the gross incompetence comes as one moves up the leadership chain.

Political correctness still governs Obama’s counter-terrorism programme

By James Corum World Last updated: May 6th, 2010

The fact that the man accused of planting a large bomb in Times Square almost made it out of the US and to safety in the Middle East shows that the Obama administration can’t get the most basic things right when confronted with a major terrorist incident.

The suspect, Faisal Shahzad, bought a ticket to Dubai under his own name, got on the plane, and was minutes from take-off before an alert customs agent looked over the flight manifest and spotted his name. This time we were fortunate that America’s number one terror suspect did not successfully flee the country. It also proves my long standing contention that we have plenty of dedicated and competent people in the war against terrorists — the gross incompetence only comes into play as one moves up the leadership chain.

According to senior officials in the Obama administration, quoted on ABC News, the reason Faisal Shahzad was able to board the Emirates Airlines flight is that the airline periodically, but not frequently, updates its no-fly list with information from US intelligence agencies.

The obvious question to ask — but one that the incredibly tame and uncritical mainstream media will not ask — is why Emirates Airlines was not required by the Transportation Security Administration to constantly update its no-fly list. How can any airline with an apparently cavalier attitude towards security be allowed to fly in and out of American airports?