Would-Be Underwear Bomber Was CIA Double Agent
The recently uncovered al-Qaida plot to take down a U.S.-bound airliner took a dramatic turn Tuesday: It turns out that the would-be bomber who was chosen to carry out the mission was actually an informant for the CIA.
The recently uncovered al-Qaida plot to take down a U.S.-bound airliner took a dramatic turn Tuesday: It turns out that the would-be bomber who was chosen to carry out the mission was actually an informant for the CIA. The double agent was the one who ultimately exposed the terrorist plot, which was conceived in Yemen, before it was able to be carried out. –TEB
The Los Angeles Times:
Saudi Arabia’s intelligence agency, working closely with the CIA, used an informant to pose as a would-be suicide bomber. His job was to convince the Al Qaeda franchise in Yemen to give him a new kind of non-metallic bomb that the militants were designing to easily pass through airport security.
But the double agent instead arranged to deliver the explosive device to U.S. and other intelligence authorities waiting in another country, officials said Tuesday. The agent is now safely outside Yemen and is being debriefed.
Wait, before you go…MSNBC:
An unidentified Yemeni government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the supposed suicide bomber was working for Western intelligence “from day one.”
The insider also provided information that allowed the U.S. to launch a Predator drone strike that killed the group’s operations chief, senior U.S. officials told NBC News earlier Tuesday.
“It was managed so that it was not a threat,” said one senior Obama administration official, who like the others spoke on condition of anonymity. “We were confident that we had inside control over any plot that might have been associated with this device.
“The device never got near an airplane. To our knowledge, it never got near an airplane or airport.”
If you're reading this, you probably already know that non-profit, independent journalism is under threat worldwide. Independent news sites are overshadowed by larger heavily funded mainstream media that inundate us with hype and noise that barely scratch the surface. We believe that our readers deserve to know the full story. Truthdig writers bravely dig beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that tells you what’s really happening and who’s rolling up their sleeves to do something about it.
Like you, we believe a well-informed public that doesn’t have blind faith in the status quo can help change the world. Your contribution of as little as $5 monthly or $35 annually will make you a groundbreaking member and lays the foundation of our work.
Support Truthdig
Europe
The New York Times called it a “mystery,” but the U.S. executed a covert sea operation that was kept secret — until now, according to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh.
Playing on fears and stoking divisiveness is the president's go-to strategy, even as tensions build on a national and international level as a result of his rhetoric and direction.
Spanish police believe members of a terrorist cell had planned to fill vans with explosives and set off a huge blast in Barcelona.
American forces made the gesture amid increasing tensions after North Korea's widely disputed claim that it conducted a hydrogen bomb test last week.
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Wednesday that "human error" was a factor in the Oct. 3 bombing of the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, that killed 30 civilians and left 37 wounded. In a statement, Doctors Without Borders, which had previously called the attack a probable war crime, said the report was "shocking" and left "more questions than answers."
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.