Today's Washington Times reported on the release of two Yemenese men who were detained at Amsterdam airport on Monday. Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al-Soofi and Hezam al-Murisi were arrested at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport at the request of U.S. law enforcement officials. The men were released today without being charged with anything.
Initial tests of one of the men's luggage had shown a trace of explosives. Later, more accurate tests did not reveal explosive material.
In a story posted on Monday ABC News reported:
"In addition, officials said, al Soofi was found to be carrying $7,000 in cash and a check of his luggage found a cell phone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle, three cell phones taped together, several watches taped together, a box cutter and three large knives. Officials said there was no indication of explosives and he and his luggage were cleared for the flight from Birmingham to Chicago O'Hare."
This whole story really does not make any sense. I strongly suspect this was a test to see if the baggage inspectors would pick up the image of a cell-phone-triggered bomb. Also, the list of things in the luggage does not sound like the normal contents of the suitcase of your everyday traveler. Added to the mix is the fact that Yemen is to terrorism what Afghanistan was to terrorism up until September 11, 2001.
To me, this is an indication that generally speaking we are not serious about stopping terrorism. The taping together of watches or cell phones is not normal packing procedure. I strongly suspect that this was a dry run for something horrible that we will see in the future.
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