Ex-Gitmo detainee Jabir al-Fayfi tipped off Yemeni authorities about cargo bombs: officials ------Yemeni officials said the critical tipoff came from Jabir al-Fayfi, a Saudi jihadist in his 30s who was captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2001 and held for six years at the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.

Fayfi was released to Saudi Arabia in 2007 and put through the kingdom's rehab-for-militants program. He fled to Yemen as soon as he was released to rejoin the terrorists.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/worl...#ixzz1468qUz7j

If one does not believe in miracles I think this story is proof that miracles do occur. This former terrorist could have been bitter after six years detention at Guantanamo; instead he discovers he is human and part of the human race. Good for him that he tipped off authorities about bombs that would be too intractable to discover in any normal security check. Or even in the most extensive security check!

I'm as optimistic as they come w/o being Pollyana-ish but I'm skeptical of Fayfi and his motives. From the linked article:


Agent, double agent or triple agent? Who knows.

Tip Off! Oh come on!, what a wus!!!

I can't imagine what my response would be if I were wrongfully arrested by barbarians while performing humanitarian work, then locked up for six years, tortured, mentally scarred, then released into the clutches of a regime not known for embracing human rights without receiving so much as an apology. A Tip off would certainly not be on the list I can tell you. OTOH, I am glad he has found peace by way of his personal faith in God - if it is real, it will undoubtedly be far stronger than, and easily surmount all of the negative experiences he has obviously encountered this decade.

I'll say. Perhaps detonating the bomb was never the intention, but the media frenzy of a ex-gitmo prisoner preventing it, and the political fallout of such an action, is.

According to today's newspaper, 80g of PETN would "level a house". Based on that, I think it's safe to assume that less than 10g would be sufficient to bring down an airplane.

So given that we know that terrorists have access to a stable, easily transported powdered material that it takes only 10g to bring down a plane, why is it again that we have rules in place that are designed to thwart bombing attempts using volatile liquid explosives that would have to be carefully and precisely mixed in a controlled process and would have to be in quantities over 100ml to be effective?

Sir, it's for your safety.

And yes, we all feel soooo much safer without those lethal bottles of water right?

Or ban toner cartridges (UK only - SO FAR).

What I can't understand is that al-Qaeda can make bombs out of virtually anything they can find that successfully kills Muslims & soldiers but as soon as they try it on aircraft it all goes tits up.

Which just points out how absolutely, mind-numbingly stupid the UK's decision is. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

The horse is out of the barn. It'd done, over, finished. The next time this stunt it pulled, it won't be a toner cartridge, maybe it's a laptop or cell phone - will the UK ban those too? What happens when they weave explosive material into fabric and make clothing out of it? Do we get to fly naked then?

Useless idiots.

guess all that waterboarding left a long lasting impression on the dude

I think I've figured it out -- they only want to stop really stupid terrorists, because that would be embarrassing if a really chowder-headed plot were to succeed. Clever terror plots, on the other hand, help create the fear they need going into that next budget planning cycle.

It's pretty interesting, well at least to me.

The UK has banned any toner cartridges with over 500g of stuff in them.

One of the bombs had 300 g of PETN, the other 400 g of PETN according to news reports.

Both, in theory, are still allowed as carry ons, as they are smaller than the restriction.

Yes, but this is OK because without 200 ml of evian, you cannot activate such a bomb.

The question is, why is this stuff available at all? How does it enter the supply chain? Is it mixed in laboratories (I doubt it - too many volatile precursors in the process I mapped out for a laugh).

Yes indeed...quite curious.

My theories:

1) They are buying it from supplies stolen from government
2) They are being supplied with it by governments looking to destabilize the west
3) They are being supplied with it by western governments who are feeding these groups behind the scenes, using them to orchestrate these attack plans in order to fuel fear, pave the way for additional anti-liberty intrusions and help finance the military-industrial complex

I believe it's a fairly common industrial explosive, at the beginning of the year it was in the news because a forklift in North Carolina at a port punctured 9 50 kg drums of the stuff (yes, a half ton of it) taking it off a ship.

They probably just have a contractor or whatever order it from a catalog.