Authorities Backtrack on Qatari Shoe Bomber Story

UPDATE 2.08pm: A QATARI diplomat has caused a mid-air panic after reportedly putting a cigarette out on his sandals during a US flight.

ABC News earlier this hour reported that a Qatari diplomat attempted to ignite a shoe bomb on a United Airlines flight with 157 passengers aboard.

Authorities have identified the passenger as Mohammed al-Modadi, who has full diplomatic immunity as the third secretary and vice-consul of the Qatari embassy in Washington, according to the network.

In a story filed moments ago the network reported:

Authorities say the diplomat was wrestled to the ground and two F-16 fighter jets were dispatched to accompany the 757 on the final 40 minutes of its flight to Denver. Flight 663 originated from Washington Reagan airport.

A US security official said, “It may have been a massive misunderstanding” and the diplomat’s statement may have been a “sarcastic” comment when he was confronted by two air marshals who had been told by flight attendants that smoke was coming from the lavatory.

Massive, I guess!

Fox News Picks Up:

The suspect may have tried to light his shoes or something else in an attempt to cover up another smell, the source told Fox News, and other reports suggest the man might have been putting out a cigarette. However, authorities have come to no final conclusion yet and continue to investigate.

The Associated Press cited unnamed sources saying the FBI is investigating the incident. The Transportation Safety Administration confirmed it was “monitoring” the incident, saying initial reports described a passenger “possibly causing a disturbance.”

Smoking Break?

The San Francisco Chronicle is now reporting:

A Qatari diplomat trying to sneak a smoke in an airplane bathroom sparked a bomb scare Wednesday night on a flight from Washington to Denver, with fighter jets scrambled and law enforcement put on high alert, officials said.

DOESN’T THIS GUY KNOW CIGARETTES ARE HAZARDOUS TO HIS HEALTH?!

Barack Obama wants everyone who jumped to conclusions, rushed to judgment, made a hasty assumption, or otherwise had a bad thought about Arabs, Persians, Muslims or others who smell strongly of curry and smoke in airplane lavatories, to be ashamed of themselves.

The Obama-Holder Connection: Social Justice, or Just Old Fashioned Anti-Semitism?

In the summer of 2008, when the nation first learned of Barack Obama’s longtime association with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the next question was obvious. Does Obama share Wright’s anti-Semitic views?

Largely due to a media that was unabashedly working as the public relations arm of his campaign, then Senator Obama was given a pass on his 20-year connection with Wright, and by association, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Some spoke up; most did not.

Within months of taking office the President snubbed Israel, our only true friend in the Middle East, and embarked on an apology lap to the Islamic world.

If all of that weren’t enough, the appointment of Eric Holder as Attorney General should prove that this President has even greater empathy for radical Islam than previously thought. This week Holder revealed Obama DOJ appointments of nine men who have been instrumental in the defense of Guantanamo terror detainees. Five have directly represented terror, and one defended Osama bin Laden’s driver.

Will the President and General Holder never take the right side in this war on radical Islam? George Bush buckled under pressure during the final years of his presidency in releasing GITMO detainees to return to the field of battle. But Barack Obama, and by extension Eric Holder, seem anxious to provide defense to America’s worst enemies in decades.

From his appointment of Holder, to the recent tapping of Rashad Hussain as envoy to the Muslim world, Obama’s affinity for Islamic causes has become clearer with each step. And now the revelation of nine Justice Department lawyers in GITMO defense cases raises serious questions. Are our children risking their lives in Afghanistan for nothing? Every detainee released from Guantanamo is a potential death sentence for GIs and marines.

American Jews voted for this president in droves, yet he has repeatedly slapped them in the face by supporting an enemy sworn to their destruction. One cannot help but wonder if Jeremiah Wright’s anti-Semitic and pro-Muslim views are at work here.

Barack Obama’s cooling of relations with Israel at a time when the partnership of our two nations could not be more critical is shocking and appalling. America cannot afford to waste one resource in this war – and Israel is a vital partner – because our enemy is cunningly resourceful.

I have great faith in the American people to speak up in the face injustice, and the injustice here is to our own interests. Loving one’s enemies is a virtue, but having blatant disregard for one’s own is shameful.