Says Attack at Detroit Airport linked to other recent Jihadist attacks

From Eric Dondero:

The Yemen-based branch of Al-Qaeda may be responsible for the latest attack on the United States. According to various source, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was on a terror list linked to the Yemeni-branch, and is said to have had numerous contacts with Yemeni Terrorist leader Anwar al-Awlaki.

The leading Republican on the House Intelligence Committee is asserting that the Obama administration is not acting agressively enough to investigate. One day after the latest attack he's criticizing the administration for their slowness to react, and ineptitude in connecting the dots.

From Rep. Peter Hoekstra, Twitter account:

Administration says attempted terrorist attack. No. It was a terrorist attack! Just not as successful as they (AQ) planned.

From the Detroit Free Press:

“It’s not surprising,” U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, a Holland Republican, said of the alleged terrorist attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight in Detroit. A Nigerian who authorities said had told them he was ordered by al-Qaida to detonate an explosive was in custody. Reports linked the explosives to Yemen.

“People have got to start connecting the dots here and maybe this is the thing that will connect the dots for the Obama administration,” said Hoekstra.

A Connection to the Ft. Hood shooting?

The attack at the Detroit Airport amounts to what is the 3rd Muslim terrorist attack on US targets. In May a homegrown Islamic-convert terrorist shot up a Military Recruiting facility in N. Little Rock, AR killing 1 soldier and seriously injuring another. In November, Major Malik Nidal Hasan killed 13 soldiers at the Army Base in Ft. Hood, and injured 42 others.

Now Rep. Hoekstra, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee is suggesting a possible connection. Radical Yemeni Cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki was the spiritual leader of Ft. Hood Terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan. He's also identified as the spritual leader for Flight 253 suspect Abdulmutallab. Continuing from Freep:

Noting that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan – the Army officer who is accused of killing more than a dozen people at Fort Hood, Texas, last month – was allegedly linked to a radical cleric now in Yemen, Hoekstra said this latest incident could be “one more indication” that the al-Qaida branch there is planning attacks.

According to the NY Post:

Abdulmutallab reportedly had links with US-born Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, according to Sky News sources.

Al-Awlaki, who is thought to have died in a Yemeni airstrike on an al Qaeda meeting December 24, also had links with the shooter who killed 13 people and injured 30 others at a US army base in Texas on Nov. 5.

The latest news suggests that Al-Awlaki actually survived the drone attack, but that two of his closest associates were killed.

Note - Rep. Hoekstra, a fiscally conservative/strong on defense Republican, is a candidate for Governor of Michigan. He is leading all potential challengers, Republican and Democrat, in the latest polling.