was arrested. The discussion of why it took so long to recognize his name on the list misses a bigger point. He was stuck on a plane.
I would much rather have him stuck in a metal tube than running around an airport or on a high speed chase through a city. Is it really that big a leap to think maybe the FBI wanted him on the plane?
I am sure the FBI, CIA, and other agencies missed an opportunity to connect a dot here, or a red flag there. But given the options, I am glad they caught him where they did. Think about it.
He had to be screened for weapons, at a time when those in the TSA were on higher alert. So he would have been unarmed. Storming an airport in full SWAT would have caused panic.
It's not comforting to the Rush Limbaugh/Glenn Beck wing of America that the FBI and police could do their job, watch someone, make sure they were not a threat to anyone else, and then arrest him with as little disruption to the general population as possible.
The tape released of the conversation between the pilots and air traffic controllers makes no mention of why the plane must turn around. Even though at the time they knew he was on the plane and responsible for the Time Square plot. Here's the big picture folks:
-The agencies involved did their job and caught him.
-They did it in 53 hours.
-They didn't stoke the flames of fear.
-They left the rest of us the fuck alone.
Mayor Bloomberg and the police officer even had dinner the night after. In Times Square.
That's how it's done. Prove we are not afraid as a "fuck you" to terrorists. The FBI and CIA didn't fail here, they did their job and left everyone else alone.
Remember that.