American Thinker: Learning from Umar

American Thinker: Learning from Umar: "Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab shattered the mold -- and not just because he put a bomb in his underwear. His attempted destruction of Flight 253 reveals a dangerous ignorance in the West about the enemy threatening the United States.

As an American studying in London, I interviewed several protesters at the G20 protests earlier this year. Outside the American Embassy, a crowd gathered to protest the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. 'I don't think al-Qaeda exists,' one man told me. 'If you went to Arab countries, you'd see the peace.' Many in the crowd shared his sentiment that al-Qaeda is simply a convenient myth used by the Bush administration to wage war. A startling number of people believe that the 'U.S. government' was behind the 9/11 attacks. Will Umar's existence change their minds?

Among those who acknowledge al-Qaeda, some discount its influence. Just three days before Umar's attack, Representative John Murtha told reporters that he 'isn't convinced Al Qaeda is still a threat to national security.' This mantra has been repeated by security experts and professors alike. But the reality is that Farouk was trained by al-Qaeda in Yemen. And he's not the only one."