December 13, 2010
A recreation on the CBC program ‘the Passionate eye’ attempted to determine what would have happened if Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab had been successful in detonating his pentaerythritol trinitrate (PETN) bomb on Christmas day of last year. The supposed al-Qaida operative had aspired to breach the Detroit-bound plane’s fuselage, ignite the fuel tanks and cause a catastrophic crash.
However, the blast, if successful, would not have been powerful enough to penetrate the 5 mm thick aluminum alloy skin and the structural integrity of Northwest Airlines flight 253 would have remained in tact. The documentary also admitted even in laboratory conditions, the attempted detonation method of igniting the PETN by ways of a chemical reaction is difficult.
Curiously absent from the documentary was the eyewitness account of Kurt Haskell, who as reported on the Michigan Live news website, indicated Mutallab was escorted past Amsterdam’s security with the aid of a ‘sharp dressed Indian man’… “His friend was dressed in an expensive suit. The suited man asked ticket agents whether Mutallab could board without a passport. The guy said, ‘He’s from Sudan and we do this all the time.’” Security Analyst Chris Yates states in the documentary, “he (Mutallab) was a very ‘ordinary looking’ guy, very ‘student looking’”. Conversely, Mr. Haskell has stated, “Mutallab was poorly dressed.”
This incident has been used to sell costly millimeter-wave and ‘backscatter’ X-ray scanners, although as this experiment concludes only Mutallab and the unfortunate passenger sitting beside him would have suffered fatal injuries. Albeit one innocent death would be a tragedy, the reasonable person would not advocate the increased implementation of ‘police state’ style tyranny by the TSA (Transportation Security Administration).
In light of this new evidence, perhaps the TSA will reexamine their procedures with aid from an outraged, resistant public to return USA to a free state with the right to mobility and liberty. In the timeless words of Benjamin Franklin, “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety”.
Sources:
http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/passionateeyeshowcase/2010/detroitplanebomber/
Points of interest 1:50, 10:15, 14:00, 27:00 and 33:33
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/12/flight_253_passenger_says_at_l.html
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