Just a bit too convenient though, isn't it?
So, let's look at the facts:
1. The UK refuses to re-admit a Nigerian because of his connections to fundamentalist Muslim maniacs. The UK tells the US of their suspicions about this individual.
2. The CIA listens in to telephone conversations in Yemen in August that spoke of "The Nigerian".
3. A Nigerian banker goes to the US Embassy and states that his son is in Yemen, receiving training from muslim maniacs.
4. A Nigerian, using his own name, a name that was already known to the US and UK authorities, buys a one-way ticket to the US, with cash, and turns up with hand-baggage only.
5. This Nigerian, who has supposedly received training in how to blow up an airliner, then tries to detonate his bomb, not at altitude where it might have succeeded in bring the airplane down if it had exploded properly, but at low level where the airplane is barely pressurised, thus rendering a successful downing of the airliner unlikely, even if the bomb had worked.
6. The outcome: The security "industry" receives massive new funding for full-body scanners, huge budget increases for additional staff and untold new powers.
A cynic, who gets frisked every time he goes to work at the airport by a nasty little jobsworth given practically unlimited power in the interests of "security", might be forgiven for wondering whether the security industry knew this guy was coming and decided to let him through on the basis that a "spectacular" - and on Christmas Day too - was just what the industry needed to get them more funding and further unlimited power that they so badly want.
Just a thought.......