Napolitano's Chutzpah

Point 1: The father of would-be terrorist bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab warned US authorities that his son was a risk, but that did not get him on the no fly list.

Point 2: The only thing that prevented the bomb from going off was a failed detonator.

Yet, Obama administration flunky Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has the unmitigated gall to claim that "the system worked."

Bullshit.

The only sense in which the "system" worked was that passenger self-help may have prevented the would be bomber from repairing his device. The sad truth is that eight years after 9/11, self-help remains the core defense against airborne terrorism. In contrast, the TSA security regime is just so much political theater.

Update: Jonah Goldberg is exactly right:

The head of the Department of Homeland Security isn't helping. I watched her on three shows and each time she was more annoying, maddening and absurd than the pevious appearance. It is her basic position that the "system worked" because the bureaucrats responded properly after the attack. That the attack was "foiled" by a bad detonator and some civilian passengers is proof, she claims, that her agency is doing everything right. That is just about the dumbest thing she could say, on the merits and politically. I would wager that not one percent of Americans think the system is "working" when terrorists successfully get bombs onto planes (and succeed in activating them). Probably even fewer think it's fair that they have to take off their shoes, endure delays and madness while a known Islamic radical — turned in by his own father — can waltz onto a plane (and into the country). DHS had no role whatsoever in assuring that this bomb didn't go off. By her logic if the bomb had gone off, the system would have "worked" since it has done everything right.

Comments

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=644884355]

This appointee's performance is simply pathetic.

[jch]

Will anybody be fired as a result of this near-disaster? No, there is no accountability.

[save_the_rustbelt]

Watching the news from Detroit, it appears the aftermath on the ground was handled very badly, essentially herding 280 people like cattle and not allowing food, water or medical treatment until the passengers started to bitch and demand lawyers.

Have any of these people considered the possibility of contingency planning?