Breaking news today requires that I stop my blogging ban for the next three days. There was an incident on NWA 253, in which the suspect allegedly tried to blow up the plane en route to Detroit on orders from Al Qaeda:

A Northwest Airlines passenger from Nigeria, who said he was acting on al-Qaida’s instructions, tried to blow up the plane Friday as it was landing in Detroit, law enforcement and national security officials said.

Passengers subdued the man and may have prevented him from detonating the explosives, the officials said.

“We believe this was an attempted act of terrorism,” a White House official said.

… Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., ranking GOP member of the House Homeland Security Committee, identified the suspect as Abdul Mudallad, a Nigerian. King said the flight began in Nigeria and went through Amsterdam en route to Detroit. There were 278 passengers aboard the Airbus 330.

There was nothing out of the ordinary until the flight was on final approach to Detroit, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory. That is when the pilot declared an emergency and landed without incident shortly thereafter, Cory said in an e-mail message. The plane landed at 11:51 a.m. EST.

One of the U.S. intelligence officials said the explosive device was a mix of powder and liquid. It failed when the passenger tried to detonate it.

… One law enforcement source said the man claimed to have been instructed by al-Qaida to detonate the plane over U.S. soil.

… Passenger Syed Jafri, a U.S. citizen who had flown from the United Arab Emirates, said the incident occurred during the plane’s descent. Jafri said he was seated three rows behind the passenger and said he saw a glow, and noticed a smoke smell. Then, he said, “a young man behind me jumped on him.”

“Next thing you know, there was a lot of panic,” he said.

There aren’t a whole lot of details just yet. The White House has confirmed that it was a terrorist attack, though. Thank God the terrorist was stopped by some apparently very brave passengers. What allegedly happened is that the man tried to detonate the explosives, attached to his leg. But the bomb failed, and he only burned himself and one other passenger.

Here’s what’s troubling me, though. The man was apparently on a terror watchlist. How was he able to board a flight to America if his name is on a terror watchlist? Have our defenses been lowered that much already? What’s scary is that this man wasn’t necessarily stopped. The bomb failed. It didn’t explode, although the suspect allegedly did detonate it. If the bomb hadn’t failed, then the news would’ve been slammed today with the reports of hundreds of dead Americans in yet another Al-Qaeda attack.

This just goes to show exactly why we’re stil fighting in the Middle East. Idiotic dove liberals might not be able to get it, but no matter how many olive branches you extend to them or how many times you sway and sing Kumbaya, it won’t make a difference. They’re still trying to kill us. And they’re not going to stop.

Hat Tip: Michelle Malkin

UPDATE: Apparently, Al-Qaeda planned this bomb plot in Yemen. ABC News reports:

The plot to blow up an American passenger jet over Detroit was organized and launched by al Qaeda leaders in Yemen who apparently sewed bomb materials into the suspect’s underwear before sending him on his mission, federal authorities tell ABC News.

Investigators say the suspect had more than 80 grams of PETN, a compound related to nitro-glycerin used by the military. The so-called shoe bomber, Richard Reid, had only about 50 grams kin his failed attempt in 2001 to blow up a U.S.-bound jet. Yesterday’s bomb failed because the detonator may have been too small or was not in “proper contact” with the explosive material, investigators told ABC News.

Investigators say the suspect, Abdul Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian student whose birthday was last Tuesday, has provided detailed information about his recruitment and training for what was supposed to be a Christmas Day suicide attack.

So we see that this was not just a dry run or a practice. This was an actual terrorist attack. Had the detonator worked, we’d have seen a tragedy on Christmas day.

Obama, meanwhile, has yet to even release a statement addressing this and is still enjoying his vacation in Hawaii. He’s “being briefed on the situation”, but he won’t leave the $8.9 million mansion he’s in for the holidays. Deal with an attempted terrorist attack? Nah, that can wait.

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