Remember the adage at the end of the old G.I. Joe cartoons that "knowing is half the battle?" Somewhere in the remaining half is "keep the guy with the bomb off the plane." "Official: U.S. Knew for 2 Years Suspect Could Have Terror Ties," from [1] FoxNews, December 26:

An official briefed on the foiled attack on a Detroit airliner says the U.S. has known for at least two years that the suspect could have terrorist ties.

The official said that the suspect, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, has been on a list that includes people with known or suspected contact or ties to a terrorist or terrorist organization.

The intelligence database that Mutallab is part of is described as containing people who have "loose ties or links to extremists," Fox News has learned. Any person in this database is someone who as of yet rises to threat level of no-fly lists or other more serious screenings.

Multiple law enforcement officials identified Mutallab as a Nigerian national who was reportedly an engineering student at London's University College.

On Saturday, police in the U.K. were searching a number of locations in connection to the suspect, while authorities met with a Nigerian banker that may be the father of the suspect.

Former bank official Alhaji Umaru Mutallab says he traveled from his home in the Nigeria's Muslim-dominated north to meet officials in Abuja, the capital. The elder Mutallab says his son left London to travel, though he did not know where to....