Napolitano: ...Bomb is 'a potential terrorist attack' [Duh!]

[Zacha341]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/05/napolitano-were-treating-nyc-c.html

Napolitano: NYC car bomb is 'a potential terrorist attack'

By Matt DeLong

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano took to the Sunday talk shows this morning, ostensibly to talk about efforts to protect the Gulf Coast from a potential ecological disaster due to a massive oil slick headed for land. However, Napolitano instead found herself talking about the apparent failed car bombing Saturday night in New York's Times Square.

"We're taking this very seriously," Napolitano said on CNN's "State of the Union." "We're treating it as if it could be a potential terrorist attack." She said that the FBI, New York Police Department and the Joint Terrorism Task Force are cooperating on the investigation. During an earlier appearance on "Fox News Sunday," Napolitano described the explosive device as "an amateurish type of bomb." She told NBC's David Gregory that it was "too soon to tell ... who or what groups were responsible."

On ABC's "This Week," Napolitano said that tapes from the many surveillance cameras in Times Square are being reviewed, and traditional forensic work to identify the perpetrator is ongoing. While she said the attack appeared to be an isolated incident, Napolitano urged New Yorkers to "be on their toes."

"Times Square, I think, is now safe," she said, adding that "right now we have no information other than it is a one-off."

[Papasito]

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is not the sharpest tool in the shed. Obama seriously needs an upgrade for this position.

[oldredfordette]

The interview was Sunday morning [[if you read your own post), when they were still sorting out the facts. She didn't know for sure and neither did you.

[Zacha341]

Here's an update:

Questions on Early News on Car Bomb By JAMES BARRON

Published: May 3, 2010

On Sunday morning, less than 15 hours after a car bomb had been found in a sport utility vehicle in Times Square, the homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, appeared on the NBC News program “Meet the Press” and said, “You know, at this point I have no information that it’s anything other than a one-off.”

Enlarge This Image

Haraz N. Ghanbari/Associated Press

Senator Charles E. Schumer spoke Sunday on the bomb.

Related

• Arrest Made in Times Square Bomb Case [[May 4, 2010)
• Unexploded Car Bomb Left Trove of Evidence [[May 4, 2010)
• Auto Businessmen Briefly at Bomb Inquiry’s Focus [[May 4, 2010)

Times Square, Bombs and Better Security

Can more surveillance cameras help prevent terrorist attacks in crowded areas?

Enlarge This Image

William B. Plowman/NBC NewsWire, via Getty Images

The homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, left, and Ken Salazar, interior secretary, on “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

Ms. Napolitano said almost the same thing on the ABC News program “This Week.”
A couple of hours later, Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, stood in front of a CNN camera in Times Square and said, “The odds are quite high that this was a lone wolf.”

Representative Peter T. King of New York, the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Homeland Security, suggested that the reason behind the attempted attack was “the whole issue with ‘South Park,’ which Islamic terrorists were threatening to have retribution for.”

The S.U.V. packed with the makings of a car bomb was parked near the headquarters of Viacom, the conglomerate that owns Comedy Central, the cable network that carries the cartoon series Mr. King was talking about.

The three officials went on the air before the investigators working on the case had said much, at least publicly. The authorities had given no indication that they knew enough details to say any more about who might have been responsible for parking the vehicle in Times Square or what the motivation might have been.

But the officials conveyed essentially the same message: It was an isolated threat, and the authorities were on top of it.

In the rush to discuss a disturbing news event, especially one that involves terrorism, some officials strive to be the face of calm. Some are eager to be out front in delivering information, even if there is little new in terms of facts that they can add to what viewers have already heard.

And on Sunday, as Ms. Napolitano said in her talk show appearances, they were relying on preliminary information. Investigators on Monday were still examining surveillance video and, by the afternoon, the police had made no arrests and had not found the man seen in one video changing his shirt near the S.U.V. and walking away.

“When they say it’s certainly a one-off, it’s an appropriate question to say, ‘How do you know that; was this based on real briefings?’ ” said John Dinges, a professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. “To me, the most basic question in journalism is, ‘How do you know that?’ They won’t always tell you, but you can gauge a lot by their response.”

A Schumer spokesman, Mike Morey, said the senator “received a briefing from both the F.B.I. and N.Y.P.D.” on Sunday that “preliminary evidence suggested that the car bombing attempt was likely not orchestrated by Al Qaeda or another known terrorist network.”

A Homeland Security Department official said Ms. Napolitano had been kept updated on developments after the vehicle was discovered on Saturday night. The department began sharing information about the episode in Times Square, sending messages to other jurisdictions, “telling them what we knew,” the official said, who added that the messages were meant to alert officials beyond New York.

The official did not want to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly about preparations for Ms. Napolitano’s appearances. “By the time she went on the shows,” he said, referring to Ms. Napolitano, “she was able to say that right now, we have no evidence this is anything other than a one-off.”

Ms. Napolitano’s appearances on “Meet the Press” and “This Week” had been scheduled before the failed bombing occurred. She had been expected to talk about Arizona’s controversial new law intended to curb illegal immigration.

Mr. King, the Republican congressman, said the “South Park” theory was “one possibility out of a hundred.” And, as it happens, Comedy Central’s offices are in Manhattan, but not in the building in Times Square.

The interview was Sunday morning [[if you read your own post), when they were still sorting out the facts. She didn't know for sure and neither did you.

[Detroitej72]

This seems a non story here, as OR said, it was Sunday morning and details were still coming out. The point is, this administration has continued to keep th U.S. safe from another attack, much to Cheney's chagrin.

[Zacha341]

That's not politically correct for him to do so. Though Pelosi may be jettisoned at some point. Remember, he cannot "appear" to be tooooo "Bushy" in his responses ideologically or practically speaking. Thus, we have what we have, and the terrorists know this.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is not the sharpest tool in the shed. Obama seriously needs an upgrade for this position.

[Papasito]

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is not the sharpest tool in the shed. Obama seriously needs an upgrade for this position.

She has made many mis-statements and blunders.
There surely must be someone more qualified and well spoken than her that can do this job.

The point is, this administration has continued to keep th U.S. safe from another attack, much to Cheney's chagrin.

There have now been three attacks on Americans by Islamic terrorists within US borders in less than one year since President Obama took office. The deadly shooting attack by Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad on a military recruiting center in Little Rock, Arkansas in May 2009 that killed a US soldier and injured another, the terrorist massacre shooting attack by Nidal Malik Hasan in Fort Hood, Texas in November 2009 that murdered 13 and injured scores of others, and now the Christmas day terrorist attack on a US airliner bound for Detroit by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

http://www.matchdoctor.com/blog_1143...President.html

This makes #4. Granted, it was thwarted, but one of these times the bad guys are going to score big.

[East Detroit]

Score bigger than the Patriot Act? I doubt it.

"Terrorism" is the new "Communism." We'll spend all our money fighting it and all our time dividing over it.

[Zacha341]

Yeah, that's a point. The division could be our Achilles heel! When some here the "word" terrorism they think "right winged?" "Right, left who said that?", fear mongering and flag waving etc. ETC... it's completely "front" loaded beyond the reality of observable events. The content and outworking have been lost and distorted...

Score bigger than the Patriot Act? I doubt it.

"Terrorism" is the new "Communism." We'll spend all our money fighting it and all our time dividing over it.

[oldredfordette]

All of those bombers and terrorists are in custody. Where in the world is Osama Bin Laden? I think the current administration is doing well. The attacks will continue because we have done nothing but wave red flags at the extremists.

[oladub]

This seems a non story here, as OR said, it was Sunday morning and details were still coming out. The point is, this administration has continued to keep th U.S. safe from another attack, much to Cheney's chagrin.

No it didn't. Someone let this guy in the country before Obama. He was around long enough to go to school here and become a citizen. While Obama was in office, he bought a ticket to Pakistan, one way I think, where he attended bomb making classes. He came back and built a bomb andthen parked it in Times Square. Had he been a better bomb maker, it would have exploded.

The NY City police department was competent once it received a ttip from a vendor. The FBI was fairly competent except for losing him on the way to the airport. TSA put him on a no-fly list but let him through screening anyway. They probably didn't want to get into trouble for profiling. Emerites Airline also ignored the no-fly list. He wasn't arrested until after he was seated on the plane because TSA was going through the passenger lists.

The Obama administration, or the federal law enforcement agencies, were more lucky than competent. This attack may, in fact, have been a reprisal for Obama's attacks on Pakistan. It's called blowback.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud has vowed to attack major US cities in two purported new videos released months after his reported killing in a US missile strike.

The videos emerged after an attempted car bombing in New York City, for which his faction claimed responsibility in a third video, and provided the most substantial evidence so far that he survived a barrage of US missiles.

Mehsud threatened to retaliate against the United States within a month for the killing of Islamist militant leaders, appearing in a nine-minute video allegedly made on April 4, after his supposed death in January.
Taliban leader threatens US cities in new video

[Zacha341]

Emm, hmmn, er-uh YOU are using works like Islamist and "attack" with throwing distance of two paragraphs... not 'politically correct' [[*wink-wink*). Compelling non the less!

Oh what friends we have with "Emerites Airline" LOL! Nice they finally complied. And you're also correct that the airports probably didn't want to get into "trouble" for profiling except with a US senior citizen wearing a bad print shirt and a knee implant!

No it didn't. Someone let this guy in the country before Obama. He was around long enough to go to school here and become a citizen. While Obama was in office, he bought a ticket to Pakistan, one way I think, where he attended bomb making classes. He came back and built a bomb andthen parked it in Times Square. Had he been a better bomb maker, it would have exploded.

The NY City police department was competent once it received a ttip from a vendor. The FBI was fairly competent except for losing him on the way to the airport. TSA put him on a no-fly list but let him through screening anyway. They probably didn't want to get into trouble for profiling. Emerites Airline also ignored the no-fly list. He wasn't arrested until after he was seated on the plane because TSA was going through the passenger lists.

The Obama administration, or the federal law enforcement agencies, were more lucky than competent. This attack may, in fact, have been a reprisal for Obama's attacks on Pakistan. It's called blowback.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud has vowed to attack major US cities in two purported new videos released months after his reported killing in a US missile strike.

The videos emerged after an attempted car bombing in New York City, for which his faction claimed responsibility in a third video, and provided the most substantial evidence so far that he survived a barrage of US missiles.

Mehsud threatened to retaliate against the United States within a month for the killing of Islamist militant leaders, appearing in a nine-minute video allegedly made on April 4, after his supposed death in January.
Taliban leader threatens US cities in new video

[Sstashmoo]

Quote: "Where in the world is Osama Bin Laden?"

You mean catch him and end our involvement in the middle east [[The ruse)? Never going to happen.

[rb336]

No it didn't. Someone let this guy in the country before Obama.

evidently DHS went around asking questions about him in 2006 when he sold his house/condo/whatever it was. Maybe the bushies should have flagged him then

[Papasito]

Where in the world is Osama Bin Laden?

We dont know where he is, neither Bush II or Obama could find him

All of those bombers and terrorists are in custody.

Nidal Malik Hasan in Fort Hood was stopped because the soldiers eventually had to defend themselves after being shot up
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab the Underwear Bomber was stopped because passengers on the plane took action and his explosives failed.
The times square bomber was stopped because civilians reported the smoke and noise from the vehicle, and his explosives failed.

The Department of Homeland Security did nothing to stop or prevent any of these incidents.
Eventually these nuts are going to pull off a big score

[Bobl]

East Detroit's post is right on:

"..."Terrorism" is the new "Communism." We'll spend all our money fighting it and all our time dividing over it..."

[Gistok]

We dont know where he is, neither Bush II or Obama could find him

Nidal Malik Hasan in Fort Hood was stopped because the soldiers eventually had to defend themselves after being shot up
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab the Underwear Bomber was stopped because passengers on the plane took action and his explosives failed.
The times square bomber was stopped because civilians reported the smoke and noise from the vehicle, and his explosives failed.

The Department of Homeland Security did nothing to stop or prevent any of these incidents.
Eventually these nuts are going to pull off a big score

Er.... ummmm.... wouldn't that be the same thing as saying... "the only reason the police caught the criminal is because someone called the police"???

More meals out of morsels.... another waste of a thread...

[ferntruth]

She has made many mis-statements and blunders.
There surely must be someone more qualified and well spoken than her that can do this job.

Are you kidding me? We just ended 8 years of a PRESIDENT who fits the above - didn't hear you calling for HIS replacement.

[lincoln8740]

One thing I thought was rather interesting was the media just chomping at the bit and hoping this was guy was a white middle age male who was a member of the tea party

They would have loved every moment of that

[Zacha341]

Hah, I hear you! So since we had 8 years already of foolishness, we for sho' don't need any more!

Are you kidding me? We just ended 8 years of a PRESIDENT who fits the above - didn't hear you calling for HIS replacement.

[Zacha341]

ROTFL! Indeed. Now everyone will egg-shell walk accordingly... every thing is so politicized it's like a pulp fiction novel!

One thing I thought was rather interesting was the media just chomping at the bit and hoping this was guy was a white middle age male who was a member of the tea party

They would have loved every moment of that