Officials: Al-Qaida bomber was CIA informant

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Last edited Tue May 8, 2012, 09:46 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The CIA had al-Qaida fooled from the beginning.

Last month, U.S. intelligence learned that al-Qaida's Yemen branch hoped to launch a spectacular attack using a new, nearly undetectable bomb aboard an airliner bound for America, officials say.

But the man the terrorists were counting on to carry out the attack was actually working for the CIA and Saudi intelligence, U.S. and Yemeni officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The dramatic sting operation thwarted the attack before it had a chance to succeed.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AIRLINE_PLOT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-05-08-17-59-42

[Ezlivin]

1. It's amazing what these terrorists can do with our help

The CIA and the FBI are known for supplying "terrorists" with all the stuff they need to do the job.

What goes unsaid is that while many of these people do harbor anger and hatred, they are pretty much incapable of mounting any serious threat. That is, without the CIA/FBI's help.

[1StrongBlackMan]

5. While I'm certain ...

some of these operations may be instigated by our spies; I doubt that was the case in this instance.

The bomb was built by the same guy that built the the other underwear bomb ... this informant was to be the delivery person. If he hadn't been on our payroll, there would have been another delivery person.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. LA Times story here:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/05/underwear-bomb-plot.html

[zappaman]

3. Awesome!

Glad to hear it!!!
Great job CIA!
Bravo!
Fuck Al Qaida.

[Poll_Blind]

4. Hooo-leeee shit. So, the bomber...wasn't?

Officials say the informant was working for the CIA and Saudi Arabian intelligence when he was given the bomb. He then turned the device over to authorities. Officials say the informant is safely out of Yemen.

PB

[KansDem]

8. Uh-oh...the Saudis again!

...working for the CIA and Saudi Arabian intelligence

[Arctic Dave]

20. I called it yesterday as a PR stunt as damage control for all the people they have been murdering.

I feel like I should win something.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

28. Yeah, that Obama character is a real bastard

Murdering innocent people then staging phoney terror busts to justify his wanton acts of imperialist aggression.

[Arctic Dave]

34. Obama is part of the CIA? Who knew?

You post is the equal to saying he is part of a police department that plants evidence to justify their incompetence.
You would be wrong on both counts.

Obama isn't everything and everyone.

The CIA is full of shitbags, I'm sorry I had to break it to you.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

35. Oh, I see. Obama is Bush to Panetta's Cheney.

The CIA is an executive agency. Obama is the chief executive.

I'm sorry I had to break it to you.

[Arctic Dave]

37. So you are saying Obama is involved in the day to day

operations of the CIA? Really? That is some serious multitasking. Was he running the asset too?

[DCKit]

6. Keeping us safe by creating, then foiling their own plots.

Hell, they've been doing it domestically for years now.

[zappaman]

7. Yes, cuz Al Qaida would never think of hurting us

unless we put a mole into their organization and planted bad thoughts in their heads.

[whatchamacallit]

11. I admire your determination

to remain willfully ignorant. Bleat!

[zappaman]

12. I admire your determination

to embrace The Woo!
Cuckoo!

[whatchamacallit]

13. Lol, one thing's for sure

You'll go down with the ship.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

30. Ever notice how these posts always blame the amorphous "they"

I suppose it's easy to blame "they" when "they" need not or cannot or should not be named lest too many myths suffer for it.

"They" are really Obama and the officials he appointed with the consent of the Democrat-controlled senate. Either "they" are the worst murderers in history, deserving nothing but our scorn or they act in good faith, even if practical results are sometimes flawed; or the president we voted for and presume to vote for yet again is really a helpless puppet of some other, greater power that no one will name.

Why should I vote for Obama in 6 months if he is so evil or powerless? Well, the fact is, I should vote for Obama because he's a decent man doing the best in a world that is imperfect at best and outright dangerous at its worse. Al Qaeda does exist and they do want to harm the nation every president is obligated by oath to defend.

For all the chest-thumping going on around here over Osama bin Laden's death it is incredible that Obama is wholly and solely responsible for that singular act yet suddenly absolved of indictment or impotence. I can find plenty of faults in the strategies and tactics employed since 9/11/2001 but one thing I simply cannot do is impugn Obama's motives or his ability for his actions as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States.

"They" is a comfortable evasion, nothing more.

[Ash_F]

39. This is actually a common "policing" tactic and has been around a long time.

The modern term is COINTELPRO but the concept has been around as long as there has been bureaucracy. The executive force, be it employed democratically, by royalty or despots, needs to justify it's existence. If it does not appear to be doing anything, it is danger of being removed.

So they go out and find someone predisposed to committing a crime, typically someone gullible with a rock bottom IQ. Convince them to commit a crime. Train them and encourage them along the way. Then step in at the last moment to "stop" them. The argument in favor of this concept is that these people, even without encouragement or help, would eventually carry out a similar crime anyway. But someone who is that gullible and malleable is unlikely to do anything on their own. So it is a huge waste of time and resources. Not to mention a manipulation of people who are often borderline retarded.

So the bad guy goes to jail and the agency's existence is justified because obviously the bad guy's lurk right outside our windows, poised to strike if not for their vigilance. This was not "Al Qaeda". The "Al Qaeda Yemen Branch" is not a real organization in the way that Al Qaeda in Afghanistan used to be a real organization, or the way the CIA is a real organization. These were just some idiots with anti-American sentiments. Most people would not think that much about it and just see in the news:"terror plot foiled" and think "GOOD JOB CIA".

Gullible people all around.

[Bennyboy]

9. Everything is Broken...

[TalkingDog]

10. Including the link.

n/t

[Amerigo Vespucci]

25. Should be fixed now

I saw the story come through on Twitter and copied and pasted what was there. I went back to the original Tweet and followed the link and updated the OP. Everything should work now.

[slackmaster]

14. If you can't trust an Al-Qaida bomber any more, who can you trust?

[flamingdem]

38. LOL truly n/t

[MrModerate]

15. So now the terrorist market has declined so precipitously that we have to subsidize them . . .

Or they won't bother plotting to kill us?

It's a Brave New World.

[EFerrari]

27. We've always subsidized them. Now, we're staffing them, too. nt

[Odin2005]

16. FEAR, FEAR, TERRA, TERRA!

[cosmicone]

17. Bush/Chemey set the stage for this and Romney gave the final go-ahead

Everyone knows this.

[jpak]

18. It sucks to be AQ these days - they cannot trust anyone now, including their own

stupid motherfuckers.

[TahitiNut]

19. I guess his cover is blown.

[Skinner]

21. Please fix your link. (nt)

[Amerigo Vespucci]

23. Not sure what happened, but...

...I tracked it back through Twitter...where I saw the link originally...so the new link in the OP should work.

[Skinner]

24. Thanks.

[truthisfreedom]

22. I could easily join in on the cynicism in this thread, but this actually seems like a good thing.

Sure, maybe they're making better bombs because our undercover people are asking them to, but seriously, it's good to know exactly what we're up against should they decide to go forward with a plot. It's also good for demoralizing them, to know that we can so easily fool them with plants. Now they don't know who to trust.

[zappaman]

29. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Don't you know you can't be happy when the U.S. does something right?
I guess people would prefer we invade a country and killed millions of innocent people instead...

[jakeXT]

26. FBI organizes almost all terror plots in the US

The Federal Bureau of Investigation employs upwards of 15,000 undercover agents today, ten times what they had on the roster back in 1975.
If you think that’s a few spies too many — spies earning as much as $100,000 per assignment — one doesn’t have to go too deep into their track record to see their accomplishments. Those agents are responsible for an overwhelming amount of terrorist stings that have stopped major domestic catastrophes in the vein of 9/11 from happening on American soil.
Another thing those agents are responsible for, however, is plotting those very schemes.
The FBI has in recent years used trained informants not just to snitch on suspected terrorists, but to set them up from the get-go. A recent report put together by Mother Jones and the Investigative Reporting Program at the University of California-Berkley analyses some striking statistics about the role of FBI informants in terrorism cases that the Bureau has targeted in the decade since the September 11 attacks.
http://rt.com/usa/news/fbi-terror-report-plot-365-899/

[Nuclear Unicorn]

31. It's kind of like the David Berkowitz thing

If your dog comes up to you and says you should start shooting random strangers the first words out of you mouth should be, "Bad dog!"

If someone comes up to you and says, "Hey, ya wanna blow some stuff up and kill lots of people?" you're next words should be, "Hello, police."

[slackmaster]

32. You have to give them credit for bringing some of the dumbest of the dumb out of the woodwork

Some people are too stupid to be allowed to roam freely among us.

[leveymg]

33. Change that lead to,"The CIA had America fooled from the beginning." Much of Al-Qaida is the CIA.

At least that part that's been facilitating key aspects of the most dramatic plots to attack America that we've been made aware of. That goes for the attack on the '93 WTC bombing and 9/11, as well.

"The dramatic sting operation thwarted the attack before it had a chance to succeed." But, that approach didn't work quite so well in 2001.

When are they going to come out and and just admit that they blew it?

[sarcasmo]

36. Al-CIA-DUH, run for your lives.