Obama: 'Systemic Failure' Led to Terrorist Allowed on Flight 253

2 years ago

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President Obama said warning signs that would have prevented suspected terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab from boarding Detroit-bound Northwest Flight 253 on Christmas Day were ignored, calling the breach a "systemic failure."

Breaking from his Hawaii vacation to read a statement, Obama again confronted the first major intelligence failure on his watch.The president highlighted flaws in the intelligence and screening systems the U.S. government installed after the 9/11 attacks.

He noted that Abdulmutallab's father, a Nigerian banker, told U.S. authorities about his son's radicalization "weeks ago." Abdulmutallab's U.S. visa remained valid. His name was put on a terrorist watch list, but the father's information, Obama said, was "not effectively distributed so as to get the suspect's name on a no-fly list."

"There appear to be other deficiencies as well," Obama said, and "bits of information available within the intelligence community that could have and should have been pieced together."

Among the telltale signs: Abdulmutallab bought a one-way ticket and paid cash -- signals that usually alert screeners and trigger extra scrutiny of a passenger.

Abdulmutallab is accused of smuggling an explosive powder on the plane in his underwear; passengers and crew thwarted him when he started to ignite the substance.

Obama said, "It's becoming clear that the system that has been in place for years now is not sufficiently up to date to take full advantage of the information we collect and the knowledge we have. Had this critical information been shared, it could been compiled with other intelligence, and a fuller, clearer picture of the suspect would have emerged.The warning signs would have triggered red flags, and the suspect would have never been allowed to board that plane for America."

That the government had information about a man Obama called a "known extremist" but still failed to connect the dots demonstrated that "systemic failure has occurred and I consider that totally unacceptable . . . What already is apparent is that there was a mix of human and systemic failures that contributed to this potential catastrophic breach of security."

Three congressional panels -- two in the Senate and one in the House -- already have January hearings planned on the failures that led to the incident.

Filed Under: Terror, National Security

Tagged: daily guidance

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