Obama: US intel had info ahead of airliner attack – Yahoo! News
HONOLULU – President Barack Obama said Tuesday that the intelligence community had bits of information that should have been pieced together that would have triggered “red flags” and possibly prevented the Christmas Day attempted terror attack on a Detroit-bound airliner.
“There was a mix of human and systemic failures that contributed to this potential catastrophic breach of security,” Obama said.
Senior U.S. officials told The Associated Press that intelligence authorities are now looking at conversations between the suspect in the failed attack and at least one al-Qaida member. They did not say how these communications with the suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, took place — by Internet, cell phone or another method.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said the conversations were vague or coded, but the intelligence community believes that, in hindsight, the communications may have been referring to the Detroit attack.
Intelligence officials would not confirm whether those conversations involved Yemen-based radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, but other U.S. government officials said there were initial indications that he was involved. “The warning signs would have triggered red flags, and the suspect would have never been allowed to board that plane for America.”
Obama’s statement showed more fire than he had shown previously about the lapses that allowed the bombing attack to take place and came after his homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, had to backtrack on an assertion that “the system worked” in the Detroit airliner scare.
Abdulmutallab, charged with trying to destroy an aircraft, is being held at the federal prison in Milan, Mich.
Those warnings also did not result in Abdulmutallab’s U.S. visa being revoked.
Officials in Yemen were investigating whether Abdulmutallab spent time with al-Qaida militants there during the months leading up to the botched bombing attack.
Officials also noted Tuesday that Amsterdam, where Abdulmutallab boarded his flight to Detroit, is one of nine locations where U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials are stationed to do additional screening on U.S.-bound passengers who have been flagged as a potential risk.
The government put in place enhanced screening procedures for passengers after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington to catch potential terrorists. On U.S.-bound flights from overseas, CBP checks passenger names against some lists of potential terrorists, but not against all information the government keeps.
On top of that, airport security equipment did not detect the bomb-making devices and materials Abdulmutallab is accused of carrying on board the Northwest Airlines flight.
Obama said many things went right after the incident, with passengers and the flight crew subduing the man and government officials working quickly to increase security. He singled out Napolitano, backing her much-criticized comments that the attempted terror attack showed the aviation security system worked.
“As Secretary Napolitano has said, once the suspect attempted to take down Flight 253, after his attempt, it’s clear that passengers and crew, our homeland security systems, and our aviation security took all appropriate actions,” Obama said.
The two reviews, which Obama said got under way on Sunday, are looking at airport security procedures and the U.S. system of terror watch lists..
“It now appears that weeks ago this information was passed to a component of our intelligence community but was not effectively distributed so as to get the suspect’s name on a no-fly list,” Obama said.
___
Associated Press writers Audrey McAvoy in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, and Eileen Sullivan in Washington contributed to this report.
YAHOO!
RELATED VIDEOS
Inside the White House: The Marine Sentries 
Homeland Security Checkpoint: Video Blog – Day 1 
Obama: ‘Systemic Failure’ Allowed Airline Plot 
Attempted Terror Attack Analysis RELATED BLOGS
shankapotomus President Barack Obama Golfer Golfing Golf Swing …
Barack Obama’s golf swing reveals he’s an athlete, a duffer and fun to play with By Michael Bamberger Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated Published: December 24, 2008 Golf.com has performed an important service.
President Barack Obama clearly Expresses Solidarity with Iranian …
This post was mentioned on Twitter by Iran News Now, ma ronse. ma ronse said: RT @IranNewsNow: (INN Exclusive) President Barack Obama clearly Expresses Solidarity with Iranian Protesters http://bit.ly/5gbr9U #IranE … [...] …
President Barack Obama and his Trip to Japan and China, a …
President Barack Obama and his Trip to Japan and China, an Active Translation of Noble Prize. Demitri D. Lobovitch, A Russian Strategist at MATU, Moscow (Translated from Russian, Vestcorve Journal, vol 23, No. 3. p.26.
President Barack Obama To Save It Jobs In America | Barack Obama …
IT jobs in America are really high in demand not only among the Americans but also are considered to be a lucrative opportunity for people of different countries.
Farsi Translation of President Barack Obama's Address to the …
2 Responses to “Farsi Translation of President Barack Obama’s Address to the Iranian People – پیغام رئس جمهور امریکا به مردم ایران Ù28/12/2009â€. Trackbacks/Pingbacks. uberVU – social comments says: December 28, 2009 at 10:01 pm …
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama give address
Before he left for Hawaii and family for Christmas, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama gave this rare joint address. They took time to honor those who serve overseas for America. …
Obama advisers consider how terror list used – Yahoo! News
HONOLULU – President Barack Obama’s security teams briefed the vacationing president on threats facing the United States and he directed that heightened airport security measures remain in place as officials investigate a failed terror attack aboard a Detroit-bound plane.
Officials, meanwhile, pondered a formal inquiry into what changes might be needed for U.S. intelligence operations that allowed the suspect to be purged from a massive and broad government database of potential threats.
White House officials began their Saturday at 4 a.m. in Hawaii — 9 a.m. on the clock in Washington — to prepare with counterparts across the government a briefing for Obama. National Security Council chief of staff Denis McDonough in Hawaii, homeland security and counterterrorism adviser John Brennan and others in Washington spoke with Obama at 6:20 a.m. by secure telephone conference call at the first family’s rented vacation home.
Regular updates were sent to the president, who — despite being on holiday — made decisions to continue increased security precautions he put in place after Friday’s incident.
As Obama spent more than six hours on a Marine Corps golf course, his national security and policy advisers asked each other and peers questions such as: How is the intelligence community integrating itself? The Justice Department on Saturday charged that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab willfully attempted to destroy or wreck an aircraft; and that he placed a destructive device in the plane.
Abdulmutallab claimed to have been instructed by al-Qaida to detonate the plane over U.S. soil, said a U.S. law enforcement official. The plane landed in Detroit at 11:53 a.m. EST. Officials said Obama was briefed on the incident — initially thought to be firecrackers — more than two hours later.
YAHOO!
RELATED VIDEOS
David Letterman and President Barack Obama – 09/21/09 
About Abuja Nigeria 
Nigeria – Nneka – Heartbeat 
FBI Shoe Bomb Video 
Armstrong Airport On Alert After Attempted Terror Attack 
US National Anthem by the Academy Choirs 
AP Top Stories RELATED BLOGS
So what, exactly, do our homeland security people do all day …
So what, exactly, do our homeland security people do all day? Jump to Comments. Father of plane terrorist reported him to the U.S. Embassy six months ago. In Nigeria, retired bank executive Alhaji Umaru Mutallab told The Associated …
BBCW: Homeland Security Fails in Northwest/Delta to Detroit …
The Department of Homeland Security relaxed their alerts for the holiday season according to My Way. Both the FBI and Homeland Security issued an intelligence release on November 20, 2009, about the threat picture for the holiday season …
Tenured Radical: Memo To Department Of Homeland Security: You Suck
Memo To Department Of Homeland Security: You Suck. We are reading very little news from the United States while in South Africa, particularly since (thanks to my least favorite senator since Jesse Helms, Joe Lieberman) the health care …
Homeland Security to Stockpile 200 Million Rounds of Pistol Ammo
Don’t get us wrong. Here at SHTF Plan we strongly support emergency and disaster preparation, as well as TEOTWAWKI scenario planning, but 200 million rounds of pistol ammo?
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano issues statement …
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano issues statement regarding terrorist attack on Flight 253.
The Starving Bloggist: Homeland Security
Homeland Security. A muslim terrorist from Nigeria tried to blow up Northwest Flight 253 as it prepared to land in Detroit, Michigan just before noon yesterday. The Airbus 330 was flying from Nigeria to Amsterdam to Detroit and had …
Top Commenters
Kali (36)
Jack (27)
Serenity (22)
enochered (16)
G Rex (15)
Adam (14)
Elbert (13)
PanAm (10)
Rhetorical Advocate (7)
Dimensio (5)
