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Alex Kingsbury
In response to what President Obama called a "mix of human and
systemic failures" within the intelligence community leading to the
failed
While the reviews are ongoing and more recommendations are expected, additional intelligence analysts are expected to be assigned to monitor and administer the computer database, which is central to tracking international terrorists, according to two senior government officials familiar with proposed reforms.
The so-called TIDE list, for Terrorist Identities Datamart
Environment, is the central repository for more than 500,000 people
suspected of some connection to international terrorism. Maintained and
constantly updated by the
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian suspect accused of hiding
plastic explosives in his underpants in an effort to bring down a
jetliner, was on the TIDE list but was not considered a serious enough
threat to be added to the no-fly list, which would have barred him from
the Detroit-bound flight. Since the
The failed plot has led to a predictable round of interagency
finger-pointing over who dropped the ball.
There are several agreed-upon pieces of vital information. In
November, the father of the suspect met with
Given that Abdulmutallab's name was added to the TIDE list but not the no-fly list, one central point of contention has been the substance and quality of the reporting from State and CIA. Some say those conducting the initial interview should have been more explicit about the credibility of the threat. Others contend that analysts at the National Counterterrorism Center should have put the pieces together and elevated warnings about Abdulmutallab.
"Based on what we know now, the
Other critics note that the
The NSA, meanwhile, intercepted some type of communication several
months ago, which suggested that "the Nigerian" was preparing for an
attack. Translated summaries of those intercepted communications were
distributed around the intelligence community, according to the
Another senior intelligence official involved in the compilation of the president's daily briefing on national security threats says that while the plot was a serious concern, the idea that any intelligence service can stop all threats for the indefinite future is unrealistic and dangerously optimistic. "This guy probably should have been flagged, but it also shows that despite our best efforts, someone may eventually get through."