Homeland Insecurity

Had the device not malfunctioned, everyone on Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit would have perished...what went wrong?

• Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's father raised concerns about his son's increasing radicalism with Nigerian security agencies and US embassy staff but his warning was not acted upon.


• US embassy officials granted Abdulmutallab a visa to enter the US despite his father's warnings.


• Abdulmutallab was allowed to fly even though he was on a UK Home Office "watch list" and had been barred from entering Britain.


• Security officials at two airports failed to detect the explosives Abdulmutallab had strapped to his body.


• Security services in the UK, US and Africa failed to swap information on Abdulmutallab in the months and weeks leading up to the attack.

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And the device that almost exploded is "easily detected"!!!

WASHINGTON - The explosive device used by the would-be Detroit bomber contained a widely available — and easily detected — chemical explosive that has a long history of terrorist use, according to government officials and explosive experts.