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Welcome to the Watch floor. I'm Sarah Adams. Today we're covering one of the topics we get the most questions about. Can you walk us through Al Qaeda's current aviation plotting related to the U.S. homeland? Right. Al Qaeda doesn't come out and give you the entire framework of a plot. What they do is leave breadcrumbs and then you have to figure it out, hopefully in advance. Unfortunately, a lot of times it's after the fact where you learn a lot of pieces. But again, there was the 2006 liquid bomb plot that was thwarted. So the more we can get ahead of this, we can thwart it and save a lot of lives. So today we're going to walk through, you know, what we know about this plot. Others might have different information, and that's okay. There's a ton of aspects to this plot, a lot of gaps, a lot of unknowns. All we're doing is getting the information out there so everyone can be more alert and more prepared. When we talk about this plot. Like anything, of course, it has objectives and the plot has three main objectives. The first is turning past failures into success. So there's a number of aviation plots that never came to fruition. We had the shoe bomber, the underwear bomber, we just told you, the liquid bomb plot, et cetera. So we're going to talk a little bit about what that means today and what plot they're focused on the most from the past that didn't come to fruition. Another thing is they want to prove that our Department of Homeland Security, this huge organization we created, and specifically TSA within it, is completely useless. They want to say, hey, they can't protect you. We can get bombs on aircrafts, and we're going to show you that's something to keep in mind and it's a huge part of this. The last piece is they want to finally execute a successful operation using the invisible bomb, or as Al Qaeda likes to call it, the hidden bomb. We're going to explain to you what this bomb is, how it looks today, and why they think they'll be successful. There has been innovations too, and a lot of people are still thinking about the bomb from like 15 years ago, and it is much different today. And so we're going to explain the pieces we can say publicly about that. Of course, Al Qaeda is always monitoring what we're going to see say and what we're sharing. And of course then they change their tactics and techniques. It's unfortunately why you can only share so much. But you need to share enough in the hopes to thwart something like this. It's a very delicate balance. Unfortunately, when we say turning past failures into success, this is very important for people to understand. In December 2023, Al Qaeda's core leadership had their Yemen branch. So AQAP put out a video kind of threatening in the west and hinting about this aviation plot. Now the interesting thing is there is really useful information in the video and then there's information in the video to make law enforcement go off on wild goose chases. So you have to spend a lot of time on this video. And luckily we've collected a lot of information since this video to really see what you need to see and not what Al Qaeda wants you to see. So if you just took the video at face value, you would think Al Qaeda's plot is to get a lone wolf or a lone attacker. So someone who's just inspired by the video to make this homemade version of, of the invisible bomb in their kitchen, take it on an airplane and blow it up. Okay, so they want you to think that they're looking for someone out there to be another Umar Farouk who was the underwear bomber. That is not the plot. But again, that's what they want you to think of. The plot is just this one off person. And that's why a lot of people don't take the plot seriously. So the plot isn't based on the fact that fail Christmas Eve airline plot. The plot is actually based on Bojinka. So if you don't know Bojinka, we are going to walk through it today just for an understanding of it, because it was a plot that was thwarted 30 years ago. So it's not even in recent history. It is so far back in history. So this plot was a mask casualty aviation plot and it was thwarted in 1995, pretty much accidentally. So the masterminds were Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who obviously was the mastermind behind 9 11, and Ramzi Yousef, who most famously was involved in the first World Trade center bombing. Remember, if Al Qaeda thinks they weren't successful, even though the World Trade center bombing was, they will come back again and bring the plot to fruition. And that's of course what happened on 9 11. So we have some of these historic actors going all the way back to this plot. The goal was to down 11 to 12 airliners traveling over the Trans Pacific into the United States. We got lucky because Ramsey had like an electrical fire in his apartment. You know, law enforcement showed up and when they did, they found, you know, all these pieces of the plot and it was just weeks away from occurring. It was also at that point that they found out, oh, in December 1994, there was a dry run of this bomb on an airplane. Luckily, in that case, it only killed the bomber and the pilot was able to able to successfully land the plane. And there was no other fatalities. So it was interesting that no one ever connected the dry run to an actual plot. And it's something we have to keep in mind because that unfortunately happens and we really want to be on top of these things, right? There are no coincidences, there are other waves to the plot. Bojinka, if you know it, of course, they wanted to take a plane into the CIA, they wanted to kill the Pope, et cetera. But really the piece we hear the most about is the dozen airliners. Now, the bombs are a little different. The goal was to put kind of these liquid explosives into everyday items. And the focus was like a contact lens solution. So that bottle. So just think of it that way. That is not what the bomb looks like now. But just to be aware, they have continually evolved this. And of course, the 2006 plot was also liquid explosives. A lot of people, you know, say Bojinka was the prototype for 9 11. It was a piece of it. But within Al Qaeda, Bojinka has yet to be completed and they now want to bring it to fruition. So what we're seeing is the potential that they want to do a bojinka style plot of a dozen airliners, but all over US soil. So it won't be this time transatlantic like 2006 was, or trans Pacific from what we know, because they want all the attackers to get on the planes at a U.S. starting point, so from a U.S. airport. And so we all blame our government. It's not like you can say, well he got on the plane in Paris, it's the French government's fault. No, it's going to be the US government's fault because they're going to get on at airports in the United States. If you've ever worked long hours, whether it's on a watch floor in an er, on a construction site or just on the road for work, you realize that you start stacking like caffeine on top of energy drinks just to stay awake. I started looking for something that can help with focus without loading up in caffeine. And that's where I came across Ultra pouches because I've been seeing these everywhere. They are completely nicotine and caffeine free pouches. What they do is they use a blend of neotropics and adaptogens that, that are designed to support focus and then a steady state of energy. Altra actually partnered with neuroscientists and I wanna walk through a little bit of this formula so you know what's inside. They have Xfinity px. So this is designed for like a smoother energy than caffeine. There's L Theanine, this is an amino acid that promotes like a calm focus. Then we have Alpha gpc. This is a neotropic that helps with like your mental processing. And lastly we have B6 and B12 which you know, they really help us balance our energy and our mood. The idea is simple, clean, plant based energy without the jittery crash. For me it's been so useful when I'm up late at night working on investigations, kind of going through leads, comparing and cross checking information, I really can stay locked in. Ultra is the ultimate guilt free pouch, delivering instant focus and mental clarity. Without that nicotine and caffeine we talked about, new customers can use Code watch to save 15%@takealtra.com again that's takealtra.com to save 15% with code watch. When you check out, let them know the watch floor sent you. It helps promote the show. Now let's just take a couple minutes and talk about the hidden bomb or the invisible bomb. People have heard about this for a long time. All it Is is a bomb with no metal components. That's why it's called invisible. Now terrorists have been trying to do this bomb since the 1980s. But the current phase of the bomb and what we talk about today really started in 2009. That's when the bomb maker used the bomb against kind of a head of Saudi intelligence. And his own brother was the bomber, unfortunately killed his brother in that case, not the head of intel. So that was again another failure for Al Qaeda. And then they attempted to use the bomb in the underwear bomb. And again that was a failure for Al Qaeda and of course the underwear bombers detained here in the United States. This is what we mean when we're talking about the invisible bomb. It is just the underwear bomb, but it has now been innovated on. The interesting thing is Al Qaeda literally showed us the bomb. Now a lot of people think they only showed us the homemade version of the invisible bomb in the 2023 video. But I'm going to roll a clip for you really quick and I want you to see this version of the
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bomb and follow in the footsteps of the hero Umar Alvar.
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And among those firing with the charges,
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a clear passengers, 2011 of exactly what
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happened aboard this Delta Northwest aircraft on Christmas Day.
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The hidden bomb. On the dawn of 2010, media agencies reported that a Nigerian youth boarded an American plane Delta carrying with him a unique bomb. He nearly blew the plane up. His name is Umar Al Farouk.
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So you might have to rewind and watch that a couple times. But this is the laboratory made version of the invisible bomb. So our government thinks the invisible bomb is like some big item, like two water bottles stuck together. But look at the size of that. And that was in 2023. It's even smaller now. So I want you to be aware that this bomb isn't some pie in the sky idea. It was created years ago, it's been tested and then it has been sent and brought over our southern borders. It is already in the United States. So this isn't the starting phases of the plot. We're to the ending phases of a plot. And so we need to be very honest about that. Another thing, when people see this video and watch it multiple times, of course the main question comes up, well, what's the deal with the syringe? And this is very important to understand. So how the bomb detonates is it's a binary explosion. So there is a chemical in the invisible bomb and there is a separate chemical in the syringe or whatever the device is going to be. To insert it and you put the chemical that's in the syringe into the bomb. The two chemicals mix together. Kind of like if you're going to shake a glow stick and activate it and then that starts kind of the detonation of the bomb. It's just a very simple thing to know and understand. There is one back in 2019 that was found with a very similar detonation. The Turkish authorities were doing a raid on the PKK and they found these pens and they realized the pens were chemical initiators for IEDs. So what they did is you would take the pen and you would put the chemical into the IED. And at that time there was like a 30 minute burn rate. So then the terrorists could get away from the bomb and then 30 minutes later it would blow up. And obviously it would be no threat to the terrorists who deployed the bomb. So it's a very smart thing. And again, these pens are really interesting. Turkish authorities said, hey, we put them through a scanner, they look like normal pens. So it's just something to keep in mind. So it's not even like that's a new technology Al Qaeda came up with. It's been shown and proven and it works already on the battlefield. Another thing that I think is really important to understand is obviously Ibrahim Alasseri, if you don't know him, he was the famous bomb maker in AQAP who literally made the invisible bomb. He's dead. Then it makes people believe, well then Al Qaeda does not have a bomb maker to make this bomb, which is a little foolish since you can watch the video and make it yourself in your kitchen. But that is an important question, right? Who is the bond maker for this plot? Well, the bomb maker is an individual named Yazid Sufat. If you're not aware of Yazid Sufat, he's long been involved in Al Qaeda's CBRN program. He led a lot of those early efforts into anthrax 1 Al Qaeda was focused on using it. He even had a nickname like the CEO of Anthrax and Al Qaeda. He was involved in working on the bomb for the USS Cole, which unfortunately this fall we just had what, the 25th anniversary. He also trained a couple of the 911 hijackers, et cetera. And he worked on the original bomb design for Bojinka. So he isn't just a bomb maker and doesn't just have connections to all of these really significant events, but this was also a plot he worked on that failed. So I want you to understand, like how Personal that can be in this case because there is a lot of pieces of this plot where there are people from the past involved. And it makes it more impactful on the Al Qaeda side and more personal to them. Because also think of all the individuals he trained over the years. They want to bring this to fruition to honor him and give him his win. I mean, I know that's not the best way to put it, but we do have to think like the enemy, unfortunately, if we're going to stop them. Now we get asked obviously, what's in this bomb. The bomb is slightly different if you make it at home or if it's made in the lab. Unfortunately, we don't work in labs, so we don't know exactly those differences. It contains, of course, a plastic explosive, because again, we have no metal components. Now, there are other things. So we talked about how there's chemicals that help detonate, but also in some of the bombs, there are caustic chemicals that can harm you. And so the best way to explain this is let's say one of these bombs was set off in a bus. Okay. You know, obviously we had the seven. Seven bombings, you know, in London. And even though that was a successful plot on paper, that also is a plot Al Qaeda feels didn't go to fruition because there's other phases to it that got thwarted. So it's just an interesting thing. So the bomb goes off and you're on a bus. So you luckily don't die from the explosion because you're farther back on the bus. But now a chemical is released into the air, and if you don't get out of the bus and away from it, you know, that is also going to cause other harm to you. And unfortunately, you can potentially die from it. So we don't know if every bomb has this, but it is important to be aware that this is a hazmat situation. And I know airports will be mad at me, but I don't care. So if you're in an airport and a bomb goes off, you need to get out of the building, right? You need to get as far as you can away from. From whatever could be within these blasts and these particles coming out of the bomb. Now, another thing is, obviously we wanna stop this before it ever happens. So a really important thing is detecting suicide bombers and knowing what they look like. And I don't think there are a lot of public awareness campaigns out there on what a suicide bomber even looks like. So do some of your own research and get smart on this. But some of the things we like to talk is they might be involved in things like detraction tactics. So what that means is they can pretend like they're asking questions about something that they don't really care about. They'll be repeatedly asking questions. They might be diverting attention away from other things. You know, just something that doesn't feel normal. It's not like a normal conversation you're used to inside the airport. You know, pay attention to those type of things. They have behavioral changes. One of the biggest issues is they can get defensive incredibly quickly. Remember, they're very paranoid. They think, hey, someone's going to spot me and know who I am. And that's in their head. And so they're hyper focused as well as looking at people who are security, but also focusing on people who look like maybe they're law enforcement who or military. You know, it's something to watch out for. Another thing is they do have suspicious body language. One of the key things, it's like they always have to touch the bomb to make sure it's still there. It's a very strange thing, but you might see them touching themselves. It's also like, you know, when a man carries a gun concealed and then he'll walk by windows or mirrors and kind of like look at himself to make sure it's concealed. They'll do the same type of thing. So it's a really important thing to keep in mind. They might actually avoid contact you with any type of security or law enforcement personnel. I mean, that's something to watch for when you're in the airport. Another thing is they're obviously constantly scanning their environment. Another thing is they're obviously constantly scanning their environment. You also might see some of those like, nervous tics, you know, like they have difficulty standing still, for example, besides checking their clothing. Also, the bomb does have, you know, a couple pounds of weight to it. So. So they also might be shifting their clothing to make sure it's not offset slightly. But that's also something you can look for, right? The clothing's not all falling down in the same cadence. There's a little bit of weight in a piece of it. Lastly, an interesting thing that matters is Al Qaeda made this bomb in a lab for a reason. And the reason is they mess up bombs a lot. So you can train someone to make a bomb, but they don't always go off or there's a problem. The shoe bomb, there's moisture in it. The underwear bomb, also probably some sort of moisture. We had the Times Square bomber, his bomb didn't go off. And so that means they're also not good at making bombs when they're in training. You know, we can look for that visible skin damage, right, if they got burned or have some sort of chemical burn from handling, you know, explosives and preparing devices, especially in training. Now, obviously, if you're law enforcement, we're not going to get into it, but you do also need standard operating procedures for dealing with a suicide bomber. And then for the piece I talked about that this also potentially could be a hazmat situation. So we're obviously not going to explain to you what those sop should be publicly, but you need to start having discussions about them and putting a plan in place or at least reaching out to organizations who, who do have them and have been training them. There should be no delay in this. One last thing I want to bring up that's important for law enforcement, but also for the public, because everybody out there is very aware right now. We've seen this in a number of recent terrorist events, especially October 7, the fact that a number of terrorists are on drugs to carry out the mission. So the drug can help you perform better, right, like if you're doing ground assaults, but it also can relax you and put you in a different state if you might do something like a suicide bombing. Ecstasy has long been used, for example, by the Haqqani network with their suicide bombers. So we have to remember we have multiple issues going on here. We have a bomb. It likely might not be detected by canines because of some of the different things Al Qaeda has done to the bomb, but also the terrorists might be on some sort of drug. So when we have an issue where an animal could be alerting on someone, it might be related to a bomb, but also could be related to drugs. But also you might have a potential suicide bomber in front of you. And we need to get people thinking about this, because if your job in the airport is to just use your dog and look for drugs, I can tell you you probably don't have a suicide bomber at the top of your mind. So I now want you to hunt a. Take a step back and start thinking about that and then take the time to look at the different drugs terrorists have used over the years during certain events. Now, that's kind of the quick down and dirty of what the plot looks like today. Again, it's focused on Bojinka from 30 years ago. You know, we know the bomb maker. We know a lot more about the bomb than we would have because Al Qaeda has exposed it themselves by putting a video out actually showing us the bomb. We luckily have 20 years of a defensive posture at our airports to stop bombs and to prepare for these type of things. We just need to make sure we don't get lacks on our security. Unfortunately, we started decreasing some of the efforts to scan for the shoe bomb. I don't think we should do that. I think we should keep the security practices in place and then we should be looking at some of the things that make this bomb invisible and focus a little more on where can a terrorist potentially get this through and how can we mitigate those gaps and those risks going forward? Because we know Al Qaeda has a plot in place. They literally made a video and told us it. So now what is our plan to get ahead of it and to stop it? And as always, if you see something, especially inside the airport, please say something. Thanks for being here today on the Watch floor.
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