Frugal Café Blog Zone

Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on May 5, 2010

Suspected NYC Times Square car bomber Faisal Shahzad, age 30, was arrested while trying to flee to Dubai

For several days, left-wingers and politicians huffed and puffed that they were dang sure that those evil tea party attendees (substitute vile sexual term here) were responsible for the attempt to explode a lethal car bomb last Saturday in New York’s Times Square.

After Pakistani-turned-American, anti-Bush wanna-be terrorist Faisal Shahzad was arrested at JFK airport, attempting to flee the country to Dubai, we’ve learned that despite Shahzad’s name being on a “no-fly list,” he picked up his ticket, made it through security, and was sitting on the plane, which was only minutes away from departing, when someone put two and two together.

Shahzad was traveling alone, bought a one-way ticket for Dubai by calling in the request on his cell phone just an hour before, paid for the ticket with cash, and apparently had no luggage. It’s troubling and angering that this suspected terrorist managed to get on the plane at all.

Some news reports have stated he was arrested “as he attempted to board.” No. He had successfully boarded, and was likely pretty pleased with what appeared to be a clean getaway and was settling back in his seat. Until law enforcement swooped in at the last minute.

New reports from law enforcements officials say Shahzad trained at a terrorist camp in Pakistan, and that Pakistani police have arrested five others in connection to this bomb attempt.

Here’s one report of what happened.

From MSNBC First Read, Did the plane leave the gate?:

NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski reports that a senior U.S. official familiar with events surrounding the capture of Shahzad says if the security system had worked properly, “He should have never been able to get on that airplane.”

According to the official, Shahzad’s name was put onto the U.S. “no-fly list” about 11 a.m. Monday, some 12 hours before he was taken into custody aboard that United Arab Emirates flight that pulled away from the gate at JFK, bound for Dubai. As required, once the plane was locked up and started to pull away from the gate, the airline submitted the final manifest to customs. According to one official, “We’re extremely fortunate that alert agents caught the name, and ordered the plane to return to the gate.”

But the official says Shahzad’s name should have set off alarms throughout the ticketing and boarding process before he ever buckled his seat belt. The system should have first been triggered when he purchased the ticket. If he purchased the ticket before his name was placed on the “no-fly list,” then the airline and authorities should have been alerted when he got his boarding pass, either from an agent or one of the self-service kiosks. That’s especially true on an international flight, because his passport would have been electronically scanned before he was issued a boarding pass. Even at the boarding gate, there are systems that alert TSA and customs officials to someone on the “no-fly list” attempting to board a flight.

Although Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano said even if the plane would have taken off, U.S. officials had the authority to turn the plane around, one official pointed out that since the suspect had allegedly attempted to set off a bomb in Times Square, there’s no predicting what may have happened on board the plane in flight.

“She was just attempting to put lipstick on a pig,” the official said. “If that plane would have gotten into the air, heads would have rolled. We need to do a better job.”

More information from Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit.

From Gateway Pundit, US Officials Lost Track of Shahzad – Terror Suspect Let on Plane Bound to Dubai:

US officials lost track of the Times Square bomber after tracking him for hours. He was allowed to board a plane to Dubai.
The AP reported:

In court papers, investigators said Shahzad returned to the U.S. on Feb. 3, moved into an apartment in a low-rent section of Bridgeport, then set about acquiring materials and an SUV he bought with cash in late April. They said that after his arrest, Shahzad confessed to rigging the bomb and driving it into Times Square. He also acknowledged getting training in Pakistan, the filing said.

The investigation of the fizzled bomb attack unfolded quickly, with a suspect in custody in only 53 hours — but it didn’t go off without a hitch.

After identifying Shahzad through the previous owner of the SUV, investigators had him under surveillance when he nearly slipped away.

Authorities initially planned to arrest him at his Connecticut home but lost track of him, two people familiar with the probe told The Associated Press. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to talk publicly about the breach in surveillance.

NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly played down the slip on the morning TV talk shows Wednesday, telling ABC’s “Good Morning America” that “it’s not unusual in an investigation” to briefly lose track of the target.

Emirates airlines also didn’t initially notice when Shahzad purchased a ticket that he had been placed on the government’s no-fly list, according to a law enforcement official.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano credited customs officials with recognizing Shahzad’s name on a passenger manifest and stopping the flight. Agents apprehended him on the plane.

Dual Citizen from Pakistan, Faisal Shahzad, Arrested at JFK in the Times Square Bomb Attempt

Bomb Suspect Boarded Plane

From Hot Air, WaPo: How did Shahzad escape Homeland Security’s notice for so long?:

This question somehow got lost in the mutual backslapping exercise that took place yesterday after the arrest of Faisal Shahzad. The deputy director of the FBI claimed that “53 [hours] is a good number” in terms of making an arrest, and he’s right. But counterterrorism is supposed to prevent having to count those hours after an attempted attack, and suddenly we have seen a string of attacks. As the Washington Post reports, Shahzad should have already been on Homeland Security’s radar.

[...]

Well, let’s review the data on that for a moment. He quit his job in June of last year and let his house get foreclosed. Then he traveled to Pakistan for five months before suddenly returning in February, without a job but apparently flush with cash. Apparently our intelligence services didn’t pick up on the fact that Shahzad had traveled to Peshawar, an area known for its terrorist networks, or had inexplicably gotten wealthier on his return to the US.

Granted, many people travel abroad, and DHS can’t track them all. But how many Americans travel to Pakistan each year? Return home after five months in Pakistan? Start doing nothing but cash business despite not having a job and losing their home? And all of this within just months of becoming naturalized, apparently through marriage?

Instead of patting themselves on the back, this administration should be looking very hard at DHS and asking themselves why suddenly a string of attackers managed to get to actual attempts instead of getting stopped before they had the chance. Are they doing that? Not exactly. They’re too busy blame-shifting Shahzad’s ability to get on the plan to Emirates Air, who pushed back yesterday…

Updated information at Riehl World View: Update: Shahzad Detected 30 Mins. Before Flight From Passenger Manifest

Related:
Frugal Café Blog Zone: NYC Car Bombing Suspect Apprehended While Trying to Escape to Dubai… Mayor Bloomberg, Faisal Shahzad Isn’t a Conservative Tea Partier (video) and NYC Evacuation: Crude Car Bomb Found in Times Square, Suspected Bomb in Pittsburgh Along Marathon Route (video)
Nice Deb: How Did Shahzad Escape Homeland Security’s Notice? and Times Square Bombing Suspect In Custody (Updated)
Diary of a Mad Conservative: WH Classifies Times Square Incident as Act of Terror
A Small Corner of Sanity: The Incredibly Non-White, Non-Tea Party, Times Square Muslim
Christian Science Monitor: Faisal Shahzad, Times Square bomb suspect, made now-familiar trek to Pakistan
The Clue Batting Cage: Yep, it’s prob’ly them dirty “teabaggers”
Moe Lane, RedState: Yes, Faisal Shahzad must get Mirandized
Gateway Pundit: Liz Cheney: This Administration’s “First Instinct Is to Inform the Terrorist That He’s Got the Right to Remain Silent” (Video) and El Rushbo: Bloomberg & Obama Disappointed Bomber Wasn’t a Tea Partier (Video) and Pelosi, Jost and Bloomberg Need to Apologize to Conservatives After Pakistani-American & Democrat Arrested in NYC Car Bomb Case and No She Didn’t!… MSNBC Host Contessa Brewer Admits She’s Bummed Times Square Terrorist Wasn’t Angry White Guy (Audio)
Atlas Shrugs: NYPD SHIELD REPORT: TIMES SQUARE CAR BOMB ARREST and Times Square Deadly Car Bomb Part of Global Jihad: Arrests in Pakistan
Hot Air: Times Square bombing suspect arrested at airport; Update: Surveillance was the key and Bloomberg: Hey, maybe the Times Square bomber was upset about the health-care bill and Attempted car bomb in Times Square? Update: Taliban take credit? Update: Early lead on suspect; Update: Fertilizer non-explosive
Michelle Malkin: The arrest of Faisal Shahzad and Target: Times Square
Rhymes With Right: Times Square Bombing Suspect Is… Another Muslim
Sister Toldjah: “Pakistani-American” arrested in connection w/ attempted car bomb attack and Paterson: Attempted Times Square bomb attack was an “act of terrorism”
On My Watch – The Writings of SamHenry: Arrest Made in Times Square Failed Bomb Plot
GayPatriot: Arrest Made in Times Square Bombing Attempt
Riehl World View: Times Square Suspect Faisal Shahzad Arrested Enroute To Dubai and Terror Suspect Faisal Shahzad Of Shelton, CT Arrested
American Elephant: Those Violent Tea Partiers Strike Again
Another Black Conservative: UPDATED: Time Square car bomber suspect Faisal Shahzad – ARRESTED! (video added)
NY Times: Police Seek Man Taped Near Times Square Bomb Scene

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