Obama wants answers after botched terror attack

[unhappycamper]

Obama wants answers after botched terror attack
By PHILIP ELLIOTT and LOLITA C. BALDOR
Associated Press Writers
Dec 30, 3:05 AM EST

HONOLULU (AP) -- President Barack Obama is demanding answers on why information was never pieced together by the U.S. intelligence community to trigger red flags about an alleged terrorist and possibly prevent his botched Christmas Day attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner.

Administration officials are poring over reams of data, looking for failings that allowed Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian with suspected ties to al-Qaida, to board the Northwest Airlines flight from Nigeria by way of Amsterdam.

Obama's criticism came as senior U.S. officials told The Associated Press that intelligence authorities now are looking at conversations between the suspect in the failed attack and at least one al-Qaida member. 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. One official said a link between the suspect's planning and al-Qaida's goals was becoming clearer.

The New York Times reported in Wednesday's editions that the government had intelligence from Yemen before Christmas that leaders of a branch of al-Qaida there were talking about "a Nigerian" being prepared for a terrorist attack. The newspaper said the information did not include the name of the Nigerian.

Obama's homeland security and counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, is due to present the president with an early report by Thursday, based on recommendations and summaries from across the government.


Rest of Stripes article at: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AIRLINER_ATTACK_OBAMA?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-12-30-03-05-15

[evan2]

1. O knows what's going on, but he is probably helpless to do

the right thing, out of fear of JFK consequences.

[CJCRANE]

2. At least he can change the policy

so that incompetence isn't rewarded as it was during the Bush era. And more people are aware of the Bushco tricks these days.