Rich Kid Terrorist

Here's a shot of ADX Florence, the federal government's maximo del maximo prison in southern Colorado, and I have no doubt the most recent aspiring plane bomber, Mr. Abdulmutallab is headed there on an all expenses paid one way ticket.

However, he will not be able to wear the skivvies of his choice. During the course of this journey he was toting a package of PETN explosive in his jockey shorts, and only his inartful attempt to detonate the explosive and the quick actions of passengers opening up a can of whoopass saved the day.

The aforementioned skivvies on the right seem to indicate that the ...ahem....combustion may have had some therapeutic results, when you take into account positioning and male anatomy.

However Umar fumbled the ball on the goal line, it did raise the entirely more frightening threat of people keistering in explosives, and in fact al Qaeda pulled off this schtick in Saudi Arabia a while ago in an attack on the Saudi anti terrorism chief. In that case the package was a pound or so of high explosive with a cell phone detonator.

On the subject of post 2001 airport security I'd just had my first experience with it the week before the Crusader Holiday and it was not nearly as burdensome and onerous as I'd supposed. The TSA people were uniformly polite and professional, gave clear and concise instructions, and even when they decided to give my vintage Nikon and my can of tea bags a second scoping, they didn't make me feel as if I was being imposed upon.

That said, I suspect things will be somewhat different in the future, particularly if the flight is inbound from overseas and most importantly from places where security is lax. We can add Schiphol to that list.

It seems that Mr. Abdulmutallab managed to get on an inbound flight despite all the markers that should have set up red flags-particularly in paying cash for a one way ticket. I guess those al Qaeda fellows are ever the pennypinchers. A one way ticket says "I ain't coming back."

It turns out that there are a fair number of photographs of Umar Abdulmutallab floating around, and most of them seem to have that curiously vacant, head slightly cocked to one side eyefuck stare. It looks as if he'd worked on it, and the message it conveyed.

Reports in the National Post seem to suggest that what we have here is a teenage angst ridden spoiled rich kid wannabe who got in way over his head. I mean, what son of the oppressed Muslim masses lives in a 2-million pound apartment while studying at a ritzy Crusader university with a private tutor no less?

I seem to remember a few rich kid wannabes from my first college who chatted idly about bombing government buildings back in the days of SDS. Then they went back to the suburbs and showed up in January with new Volvos and Head skis.

I think had Umar had to make his own way in the world by the sweat of his brow on the mean streets of Lagos he might well have valued other people's lives and property more highly. In any event I am not aware of any passage in the Koran that instructs people that it is their sacred duty to fill their britches with explosives and attempt to murder innocents. Or stuff it up their butts either.

Well. Things will change but young Umar won't know it because he will be out of the picture permanently, and I'd wager he will spend his best years talking to himself in solitary in Florence.

I wonder what he'll have to say to himself. I have a feeling I know the answer.