CIA Uncovers New Would-Be ‘Underwear Bomber’

Officials Say Underpants Had 'Hallmarks of AQAP'

A new report from the Associated Press reveals that the CIA thwarted another attempted “underwear bomber,” in the model of failed 2009 bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. The story was apparently uncovered last week, but the AP kept it a secret at the administration’s behest until today.

The new underpants were uncovered in Yemen, though officials said it “wasn’t clear” what happened to the guy who was supposed to wear them. They said the underwear “bore the hallmark” of previous al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) attempts.

Officials say that the underwear “never presented a threat,” but that it was a significant improvement over the pair worn by Abdulmutallab, which only managed to burn his lap and scare a lot of people.

The new attacker, whoever he was, had not picked a target yet, and officials said he had yet to buy a plane ticket. They went on to say that they weren’t sure if the new full-body scanners would’ve caught it, though it doesn’t seem like they’ve gone to any great effort to check.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.