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Thursday, Jan 7, 2010 2:18 PM UTC

Report: Officials planned to question Christmas bomber upon landing

Add another embarrassment for U.S. intelligence to the growing list coming out of the incident

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Topics: Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, War Room,

U.S. security and intelligence officials have been repeatedly embarrassed in the wake of the attempted bombing of Northwest Flight 253 on Christmas. With each passing day, it seems, there’s a new revelation of intelligence about the man who attempted to blow up the plane, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, that — if properly put together — could have meant that he would have been prevented from ever boarding the plane. Now, with the release of a preliminary report from reviews ordered by President Obama of those intelligence failures coming Thursday, there’s a new revelation.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that “U.S. border security officials learned of the alleged extremist links of the suspect in the Christmas Day jetliner bombing attempt as he was airborne from Amsterdam to Detroit and had decided to question him when he landed.”

Now, the Times has this as something that’s actually a defense of the officials involved — the information they had, the Times says, would not have been enough for them to stop him from boarding the plane in the first place. There are just too many people for that to happen at a certain level; most are just scrutinized once they land.

But even if this is even somewhat exculpatory for the intelligence community, the optics of it, obviously, aren’t good. It just looks like they were a day late and a dollar short. No wonder national security advisor James Jones said Americans will feel “a certain shock” when the report is released.

Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon. More Alex Koppelman.

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Gripping photos: The people of the Turkey protests (slideshow)

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  • The protests take on a festive element as police forces move out of the park and square. Wearing a gas mask, this young man dances to traditional Turkish music in front of Taksim Square’s Ataturk Monument.

  • In Gezi Park since March 31st, this protester, originally caught off-guard by the Government’s teargas and water cannons, went out and bought a Russian army mask from WWII, preparing for what was to come.

  • This rambunctious boy seems to be enjoying the chaos. After taking this picture he threw a stone at the already destroyed building in the background.

  • Forming a line, the police face off directly with protesters in Taksim Square. After a while, they retreated and there was a general cheer – a back-and-forth dance that has been common since the beginning of this protest.

  • An elderly woman in Gezi Park reads the news. The tent community occupying the park was violently destroyed on June 16th.

  • Many different groups had set up booths to promote their cause in Taksim Square and Gezi Park. Standing in front of one, this man waves his flag while posing with conviction.

  • Many home-remedies are used to minimize the effects of tear gas. This woman has put a milky solution on her face, removing her mask after the tear gas dissipated. Before sunrise, the police came again for another round of teargasing.

  • People capitalize on the uprising -- selling flags, beer, gas masks, sky lanterns and spray paint to name just a few of the popular items.

  • On Monday morning, June 11, the police execute a strong offensive. Many plain-clothed police officers, like the ones seen here, clash with protesters in the side streets away from the main stand-off in Taksim.

  • The authorities seem to be most aggressive in the night, pushing protesters away from the square and park. After being teargassed this young woman catches her breath with other protesters on Siraselviler Street.

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