The Christmas Bomber

Being a college student, a parent,a husband, and an employee probably were the reasons why I didn't hear a single word mentioned about the "Christmas bomber." I just didn't turn on the news or the radio. I found out about this story while I was skimming through my local paper, The Daily Herald, here in Provo, Utah I came across this editorial two weeks ago:

TSA assaults air travel
To fully understand the current uproar about full-body scans at airports, we should understand the chronology of the reactiveness of the Transportation Security Administration. Consider:
» First there were X-rays and magnetometers, the latter of which only detected metal.
» Then, after 9/11, came the restriction on box cutters, nail files, etc.
» Next, after the "shoe bomber," came the restriction to 3 ounces of liquids and gels and, of course, the scanning of shoes.
» Now, the "Christmas bomber" has caused another reaction -- full body scans.
Once TSA determines that carrying explosives in body cavities is feasible, I suspect we will have the next reaction, and everyone will simply stop flying rather than be subjected to that search! Then TSA will really stand for what some people are already accusing it of: Thousands Standing Around.
Kermit Heid
Salt Lake City

No I don’t think that people will stop flying if these searches were to be implemented. In fact I think more people will fly because they feel safe. This simple editorial intrigued me to research the ‘Christmas bomber’ and learn more about him. Searching on CNN.com Fawaz A. Gerges wrote that President Obama had said that the Christmas Day airline bomber acted under an al Qaeda branch.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the suspect is 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. The Nigerian man had a package of explosives hidden in his underwear that he was planning to ignite on a Detroit-bound plane which would have killed nearly 300 people. Fox News reported that Northwest Airlines flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit had a badly burned restrained passenger that lit an explosive device that failed to explode.
The latest news on the incident broke on Fox News that Osama Bin Laden is taking credit for the Christmas Day bomber plot.

After reading Kermit Heid’s editorial and reading sources and doing research about the Christmas day bomber, I actually have an opinion on the matter. I do hope that TSA will initiate full-body scans into their already extreme passenger screenings. The Nigerian man said that just because his attempt failed; it won’t stop the others that are planning on attacking the United States from doing so.