Christmas attack: The only thing that went "right" was the bomb not going off

Not only did the system not work, to turn a phrase made shortly after the Detroit Christmas Day bombing attack by Homeland Services Secretary Janet Napolitano, it seems that the only thing that did go well that day for our side was that the brute's underwear bomb malfunctioned.

The Detroit Free Press has an extensive report of the errors made that day, and among their findings:

• Baggage handlers continued to unload luggage from the plane even though a ramp supervisor said he believed he overheard terrorism suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab say, "There's a bomb on the plane" as he was escorted off.

• The area wasn't evacuated; there was no immediate search for a bomb.

• Nearly two hours after the plane landed, authorities moved the aircraft to an isolated area to retrieve a carry-on left by Abdulmutallab. A passenger had alerted them to the bag.

• Passengers were allowed to leave the plane before a thorough search.

Terrorists are fond of back-to-back bombings. The IRA would sometimes detonate a second bomb after an attack--designed to kill EMS personnel. And of course al Qaeda bombed two of our African embassies within minutes of each other, and we know what happened on 9/11.

Related post:

Senior Republican senators demand answers on Christmas bomber

Technorati tags: War on Terror politics janet napolitano terrorism terror Detroit Michigan