Officials say firecracker "bomber" not a terrorist threat

Antiwar - Several officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, say there is absolutely no indication that the Christmas Lap-Bomber, a 23-year old Nigerian man who claims al-Qaeda ties, was part of any larger plot.

Security officials claim to have known about him for years, and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab garnered some attention from the intelligence community last month when his father warned them he was a potential threat. Still, officials say there was no information pointing to him being a serious threat.

Which actually seems in keeping with the details of the story, as witnesses put the size of the explosion roughly on par with a firecracker, and the turns on Abdulmutallab’s lap were also consistant with this. Read more.