Obama Asks for Vigilance After Attempted Terrorist Attack
Kenneth T. Walsh

President vows to disrupt and defeat extremists while al Qaeda claims responsibility for the attempt

President Obama pledged that his administration "will not rest until we find all who are involved and hold them accountable" for the attempted bombing of a commercial jetliner en route to Detroit from Amsterdam on Christmas Day.

"A full investigation has been launched into this attempted act of terrorism," Obama told reporters. He added: "Had the suspect succeeded in bringing down that plane, it could have killed nearly 300 passengers and crew -- innocent civilians preparing to celebrate the holidays with their family and friends."

It was the president's first public statement on the Northwest Airlines incident. Up to now, Obama, had let senior members of his administration give their reactions as he remained behind the scenes. But he apparently decided that the incident, which is receiving extensive media coverage, has risen to the level where he needed to weigh in and demonstrate that he is fully engaged.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has claimed responsibility for the attempted attack in which Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, whose family is from Nigeria, tried to ignite an explosive but the chemicals failed to detonate. He was subdued by other passengers, and the aircraft landed safely. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula says that Abdulmutallab used explosives made by al Qaeda and added: "He managed to penetrate all devices and modern advanced technologies and security checkpoints in international airports bravely without fear of death."

Janet Napolitano, the U.S. secretary of homeland security, referred to these concerns in an interview today on ABC's Good Morning America. "Why wasn't he flagged at a higher screening level?" she asked. "How did he get an explosive substance onto the plane? All of those are serious questions that we are now looking at."

Napolitano conceded today that the aviation security system failed, a reversal from her comments Sunday when she argued that the system worked.

Urging Americans to be both "confident" and "vigilant," Obama said, "We will continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us, whether they are from Afghanistan or Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia, or anywhere where they are plotting attacks against the U.S. homeland." The president said he has ordered stronger security measures at airports and a review of terror "watch lists" designed to keep track of suspected terrorists. Abdulmutallab was in a federal database of people with known or suspected terrorist connections but was not on a list preventing him from flying.

The incident is already generating political controversy.

Republican Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, stated that the Obama administration has failed to adequately address the dangers from terrorism. "The threat to the United States is real," he told Fox News. "I think this administration has downplayed it."

 

 

 

Obama Asks for Vigilance After Attempted Terrorist Attack | Kenneth T. Walsh

 

(c) 2009 U.S. News & World Report