The national security advisor to the White House, James Jones, has backed President Obama’s alarm over missed clues that could have stopped the alleged Christmas Day bomber from boarding a plane.
And indeed, it seems Obama is correct in his reaction to the attempted bombing. But he shouldn’t be the one to take the blame for the security breaches as he did Thursday.
This is the second terrorist incident in recent months, and it obviously escaped the detection of Homeland Security officials before it occurred.
Before the Christmas Day attempt, there was the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, in which officials failed to act when red flags were raised about Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan, who has been charged with killing 13 people in the shooting.
But the plane incident on Christmas Day was one more too many and raises the question of whether the Department of Homeland Security is doing its job.
Since Janet Napolitano became head of Homeland Security, it seems security breaches have begun to occur, such as not following up with thorough enough computer research.
In trying to allegedly blow up a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day with a bomb sewn into his underwear, suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab could have killed nearly 300 people.
He has told investigators that he was trained and equipped in Yemen by a group affiliated with al-Qaeda.
His father went to the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria to warn American officials about his son turning to extremist ideology, but Abdulmutallab’s visa to the United States still wasn’t revoked, and he wasn’t placed on the “no-fly” list.
If this is the best Homeland Security can do under Napolitano’s leadership, she is the one who should take the blame, not Obama.
Her record shouldn’t make the American public feel safe.
It doesn’t matter what her excuses are. Lives are at stake, and she is taking action after the fact, not before.
Putting in 300 more of the improved scanner devices with capabilities that can see through all clothing, including underwear, is too little too late.
Senate Intelligence Chairman Dianne Feinsten has said a very comprehensive no-fly list would be the greatest protection the United States could have, and that the definition of who can be included should be expanded to include anyone about whom there is a reasonable suspicion.
But what about the people like Hasan and the Fort Hood atrocity?
No planes were involved there.
Various officials who have been in the news have said there is no way to detect everything, and that for each measure taken, al-Qaeda will come up with a way to work around it.
But again, that’s just making excuses.
There are ways Homeland Security and the security industry can detect would-be bombers and gun-wielding suspects. And it starts with proper leadership.
Michelle Seeber is a reporter for the Woodward News. She can be reached by e-mail at reporter2@woodwardnews.net.
