Posted on 01/04/2010 3:05:19 PM PST by Maggie Maggie Maggie
Britain told American intelligence agents more than a year ago that the Detroit bomber had links to extremists, Downing Street has announced.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was named in a file of people based in Britain who had made contact with radical Muslim preachers. The file was sent to the US authorities in 2008.
The disclosure will embarrass President Barack Obama, who is already under pressure after failures by US intelligence to identify the bomber.
It will also add to concern over the state of the “special relationship” between Downing Street and the White House following last year’s dispute over the early release of the Lockerbie bomber.
It is extremely unusual for the Prime Minister’s office to comment on intelligence matters. The move could be seen as an attempt to rebuff criticism from senior American figures who claimed that Britain had nurtured Islamic extremism.
At first it was thought that MI5 gathered only limited information on Abdulmutallab and had therefore not alerted the US.
However, in an official briefing, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said that British intelligence was shared with the Americans.
He said: “Clearly there was security information about this individual’s activities and that was information that was shared with the US authorities. That is the key point.”
The spokesman added: “We are pretty certain that he was radicalised outside the UK. He [Abdulmutallab] left the UK in October 2008.
“But it is also clear that while he was here he was attempting to make contact with people and that is the intelligence we were able to secure from the intelligence services.”
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
There is NO WAY "Downing Street" would release this statement without clearance from the top. Hence, methinks Mr. Brown posseseth more than a mere distaste for our sweet young Barack.
Whatever happened to "diplomacy"?
Yup.........you got that right.
ROTFLMAO Dr. Wheeler got his answer all righty!
And they'd better be ready for him to retaliate and this bitch knows payback.
In reality, this is more embarrassing for the intelligence community than it is for the President, even though it won't play that way.
“The spokesman added: “We are pretty certain that he was radicalised outside the UK. He [Abdulmutallab] left the UK in October 2008.
“But it is also clear that while he was here he was attempting to make contact with people and that is the intelligence we were able to secure from the intelligence services.”
The Brits want it both ways. They don’t want to take the hit that he was radicalized there.
As for us, it is a political decision to keep the no fly list small in order not to antagonize our so called allies. Once again pc bull like in Fort Hood is the order of the day, an order that is killing US.
So two administrations knew about this. WE now know what? That both are inoompetent, and the drones that run security for this country do not have the slightest idea about how to deal with suicidal zombie Islamists, except maybe to kowtow to them or hold their hands while whispering “sweet nothings” in their ears.
For the most part, as each day passes, I think more and more Americans are getting the idea that we cannot count on the Feds for anything good.
save
I’ll agree with you here!
Of course, les sentiments are probably accurate, but le mis en scene is a bit, how do tout le monde say ... a bit flaky ... ne c'est pas, mon ami? C'etait bon le Bordeaux, pas les mots.
Of course, our very own elected Ass-Klown is a perfectly obvious idiot to most of the world's leaders (except the King of Norway). It is also painfully obvious to foreigners, many of whom know our Constitution, that the fellow is ineligible to have run for the office, and they are just as mystified by him as we are.
We are weakened.
Thank you! I certainly honor your judgment on this point.:-)
Probably most of the time, but certainly on this point...:-)
As far as I see it, this pathetic excuse of a human being in the oval office NEVER had any plans for counterterrorism. He’s got his mind on too many other things, like how to bring this country down into a socialist state as soon as he possibly can.
I believe our country has become 10x more vulnerable as it ever was before...
But the essential ingrediants are present for pate fois gras, n'est pas?
We alone have to watch our arteries.LOL
The CIA knows where O’s bodies are buried. When they stop getting mad, they can start getting even.
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