New bombing plot reminder that Al Qaida is still out there - Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32 News

New bombing plot reminder that Al Qaida is still out there

The one year anniversary of Osama Bin Laden's death led to a lot of discussion about whether Al Qaida had been neutralized or rendered less of a threat.

But now a new bombing plot is a reminder that leadership within the terrorist organization is still bent on committing deadly attacks on the U.S.

The plot seems eerily similar to the failed 2009 Christmas Day underwear bombing attempt on board a jet destined for Detroit.

The device recovered last week by the CIA was also reportedly designed to be concealed in the underwear of a suicide bomber, but was more sophisticated.

The FBI is now testing the device to see if it could pass through airport security and if it was powerful enough to bring down an aircraft.

Officials say it contained no metal and would likely have passed through an airport metal detector, but it's not clear if the new full body scanners would have picked it up or not.

"What this incident makes clear is that this country has to remain vigilant against those who would seek to attack this country and we will do everything necessary to keep America safe." Defense secretary Leon Panetta said.

The CIA uncovered the plot in an Al Qaida affiliate in Yemen. That's the same region where printer cartridge bombs destined for Chicago in 2010 were built.

Officials believe the same master bomber responsible for building those devices and the first underwear bomb likely built this latest one.

This case is being called an intelligence success by congress.

"I think what we're seeing is the increased stability of our intelligence community to make sure that it can foil these kinds of plots," Representative Jan Schakowsy (D-Illinois) said. "It's also a reminder that our enemies are still trying to develop the technologies that will continue to attack us."