President Obama confirmed today that, the U.S. government had sufficient information to have uncovered and potentially disrupted the failed December 25th airline bomb attack of a Detroit- bound flight, by a Nigerian Muslim.
Obama, who following the failed undiebomber attack, ordered a review of all intelligence, homeland security and law enforcement communities, said that “analysts within the counterterriorism community failed to connect the dots” that could have identified and warned of the specific threat.
The review also pointed up that human error accounted for the delayed dissemination of a finished intelligence report and the incomplete or faulty database searches on Mr. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian terrorist that failed to bring down the airplane.
“Immediate actions must be taken to enhance the security of the American people,” the President said. In this connection, in a directive to all the intelligence, homeland security and law enforcement communities, Obama detailed a number of actions that each agency and department must undertake.
Among the measures to be undertaken, the Department of State is to review visa issuance and revocation criteria and processes and the Department of Homeland Security is to aggressively pursue enhanced screening technology, protocols and procedures, especially in regard to aviation and other transportation sectors.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), among other tasks, is to undertake a thorough review of Terrorist Screening Database holdings and ascertain current visa status of all “known and suspected terrorists,” beginning with the No Fly list.
The President has also tasks the national security staff to initiate an inter-agency policy process to review the systemic failures leading to the attempted terror attack on December 25th, with the view to making needed policy adjustments. As well, the staff are to initiate an interagency review of the watchlist process, among other measures.
Read the Entire Text of the Preliminary Review Here
Read the Entire Text of President Obama’s Directive to the intelligence, homeland security and law enforcement communities, Here.
