Free Republic

Holder's decision to Mirandize the Christmas bomber was bad enough. Telling the world he was talking again waseven worse Security: The administration says the Christmas bomber is now cooperating with authorities. We thought they got all the information he had in a 50-minute chat. So just why are we letting our enemies know he's talking? In any war, it's vitally important that you know what your enemy is planning and doing, just as it's important that your actions and plans remain secret. And when you know about your enemy's plans it's important they don't know that you know. We were...

A young Nigerian charged with trying to blow up a US airliner boasted during his interrogation that some 20 others were being trained to carry out similar attacks, CBS reported on Friday. British intelligence officials said Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, had "boasted that close to 20 other young Muslim men were being prepared in Yemen to use the same technique to blow up airliners," AFP reported from a CBS report. Abdulmutallab earlier pleaded not guilty to six charges arising out of the botched Christmas Day bombing of Northwest Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit.

On Christmas day, a terrorist known to our intelligence system tried to blow up 300 innocents on a US-bound flight. Our government's response is to take porno pictures of your wife and daughter. A radical-Islamist US Army major, known to our intelligence system, massacred his fellow soldiers at Fort Hood. Our government's response was to offer counseling sessions. A triple agent, known to our intelligence system, detonated a suicide bomb at a CIA outpost, killing seven Americans and a cousin of Jordan's king. Our government's response is to shift intelligence assets away from targeting terrorists to support development efforts.

In the wake of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's failed at tempt to bomb Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day, President Obama yesterday talked up more advanced technologies as the road to better air security. But what America really needs to do is take a lesson from the security practices at the world's most targeted -- yet arguably most secure -- airport: Israel's Ben Gurion International. Obama claimed, "There is no silver bullet to securing the thousands of flights" each day. In fact, the Israeli methods are proven. Ben Gurion has the same x-ray machines and metal detectors as other major...

Al Qaeda will soon return to attacking America interests at sea, a prominent contributor on a jihadist forum posted Monday. The message, from a writer called Abu Raghd on the Al-Falluja forum, says that the terrorist organization will take up the policy of “a blow for a blow and a raid for a raid” against the U.S., according to a translation from the Washington D.C.-based Middle East Media Research Institute. Less than two weeks after a botched Christmas Day attack on an American airliner by a Nigerian-born militant, Abu Raghd threatened future strikes “on an extravagant scale.”

Extremist Internet forums discussed blowing up planes three weeks before the Detroit attempt -- and have also discussed ways of using deadly biological agents onboard planes. A private Israeli intelligence company told ABC News Monday there was a surge of online discussions in extremist Islamic forums about blowing up planes three weeks before Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's attempt to bring down Northwest Flight 253. The discussions recommended using "improvised detonation chain" devices, exactly like the one used onboard the Detroit-bound flight. The company has also tracked specific -- and in its view -- credible plans to attack planes using deadly biological...

Fifty-eight percent (58%) of U.S. voters say waterboarding and other aggressive interrogation techniques should be used to gain information from the terrorist who attempted to bomb an airliner on Christmas Day. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 30% oppose the use of such techniques, and another 12% are not sure. Men and younger voters are more strongly supportive of the aggressive interrogation techniques than women and those who are older. Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major party favor their use more than Democrats.

The Transportation Security Administra tion's move to mix up security procedures on flights is likely to hamper terrorists. But in the end, we need to stop them before they buy their plane tickets. Terrorists want the security they face to be predictable -- and for the results of their attacks to be predictable. They rehearse, do practice runs, test security and conduct surveillance of airports and airlines. When they attack, they want the results to be successful and spectacular. They must get it right the first time. So any change in security screws them up. For that reason, it probably...

The radical Yemeni-based cleric connected to two violent plots in the U.S. has "gone operational," a senior U.S. official told Fox News, suggesting Anwar al-Awlaki is becoming an increasingly significant figure in Arabian Peninsula terror networks. Al-Awlaki was thought to have been killed in an air strike by Yemeni forces last week, but that is now unconfirmed. The senior U.S. official told Fox News that the cleric, an American citizen now living in Yemen, had previously been devoted to "propaganda and spiritual guidance," but went operational in the past year. This comes as a U.S. intelligence official told The Washington...

HONOLULU — President Barack Obama said Tuesday “a systemic failure” allowed the attempted Christmas Day attack on a Detroit-bound flight from Amsterdam. He called it “totally unacceptable.” The president said he wants preliminary results by Thursday from two investigations he has ordered to examine the many lapses that occurred. “There was a mix of human and systemic failures that contributed to this potential catastrophic breach of security,” Obama said. It will take weeks for a more comprehensive investigation into what allowed a 23-year-old Nigerian carrying explosives onto the flight despite the fact the suspect had possible ties to al Qaeda,...

The CIA was tracking a person of interest known as "The Nigerian" - who was in fact airline bomb suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab - as early as August, CBS News reports. The connection between "The Nigerian" and Abdulmutallab was not made when the 23-year-old's father contacted the U.S. embassy in Nigeria in November to warn them of his son's radicalization. CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said the intelligence agency did not have Abdulmutallab's name until November.