Dear Homeland Security

See, had you guys not done a good job, this picture wouldn't be as hot...

via The New York Times:

An investigation into a failed car bombing in Times Square widened rapidly on two continents on Tuesday as Pakistani authorities arrested several people, just hours after a jet bound for Dubai was called back from the runway at Kennedy Airport and boarded by federal officers, who seized a Connecticut man accused of carrying out the attempted attack.

The man, Faisal Shahzad, was arrested just before midnight Monday aboard an Emirates flight. He was expected to face charges of terrorism and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction in what Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. called a “terrorist plot aimed at murdering Americans.”

Speaking at a news conference in Washington, Mr. Holder said Mr. Shahzad had been talking to investigators and had provided “useful information.” Officials had previously said that Mr. Shahzad had implicated himself in statements after he was pulled off the plane. At the same time, President Obama said federal investigators were looking into whether Mr. Shahzad had any ties to terrorist organizations.

Mr. Shahzad, 30, a naturalized United States citizen from Pakistan, had apparently driven to the airport in a white Isuzu Trooper that was found in a parking lot with a loaded handgun inside, an official said. He told the authorities that he had acted alone, but hours after he was arrested, security officials in Pakistan said they had arrested seven or eight people in connection with the bombing attempt.

About 5 months ago, this wouldn't be the letter I would have been writing. In fact, the letter I wrote in December, ripping Airport Security a new *sshole is a far cry from how I feel today. Homeland Security, you guys have seriously upped your game since the last time there was a legitimate terror plot. This past weekend in New York City, Times Square was shut down by the presence of an unmanned and unmarked green SUV. When you and the NYC Police arrived, you found gasoline, propane, fireworks, fertilizer and an alarm clock in the car. Now, this isn't that serious. I mean, Times Square is probably the busiest place in NYC at any given moment. If you didn't find anything suspicious about a car parked there packed with explosives, then I'd probably move to Canada.

What transpired in the past 4 days though, is nothing short of a new plot for Jack Bauer to explore. I mean, seriously, Homeland Security... Did you guys go into a hyperbolic time chamber (all my DBZ fans stand up!!) and work on your investigative skills or something? It literally took you guys four days to identify the car, it's previous owner, the buyer, and then nab the man as he was boarding a plane to flee the country!! If that's not a drastic improvement from last year's TSA fumble in Chicago, I don't know what is. You guys went from letting a Nigerian terrorist onto a plane with a bomb strapped to him, to nabbing Faisal Shahzad in less than a week! Between the camera shots of the guy, tracking the car's sale through Craigslist, and scouring through plane tickets, this operation had the makings of a CSI episode. Maybe it was the technology, or how badly planned out his terror plot was, but the way you guys handled this situation was impeccable. I'm almost still waiting for there to be some screw up in this undertaking, but since Shahzad's been arrested, I guess you guys can chalk this one up. Let's just hope this wasn't just an NYC thing. I know we've got the blueprint on how to deal with a terrorist attack, but hopefully the rest of the country caught up. Kudos, National Security...