The State Department misspelled his name...

[deminks]

State Dept. Didn't Think Abdulmutallab Had Visa -- Because Of A Misspelling

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/01/state_dept_didnt_think_abdulmutallab_had_visa_--_b_1.php

The Flight 253 review just released by the White House reveals that a "misspelling" of Umar Abdulmutallab's name led the State Department to believe he did not have the U.S. visa that he did in fact have -- but the implications of this revelation are not immediately clear.

Here's the nugget from the second-to-last page of the six-page report:

Mr. Abdulmutallab possessed a U.S. visa, but this fact was not correlated with the concerns of Mr. Abdulmutallab's father about Mr. Abdulmutallab's potential radicalization. A misspelling of Mr. Abdulmutallab's name initially resulted in the State Department believing he did not have a valid U.S. visa. A determination to revoke his visa however would have only occurred if there had been a successful integration of intelligence by the CT community, resulting in his being watchlisted.

While the review is less than clear on this point, what the passage appears to mean is this: once Abdulmutallab's father visited U.S. embassy officials in November to express concerns about his son, the State Department should have reviewed the status of his visa, but didn't because of the misspelling. But even if State had realized Abdulmutallab had a visa, it wouldn't have been revoked because he wasn't "watchlisted."

(end snip)

Link to declassified report here:

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/documents/2010/01/declassified-review-into-flight-253.php?page=1

[pissedoff01]

1. They don't have suggested spelling corrections or alternate spellings in their software?

Abdulmutallab
Abdul mutallab
Abdul Mutallab
Abdul Mutalab
etc etc

[deminks]

2. Kick for the evening. KO talking about this now. nt