Obama Ties Failed Plane Attack to Al Qaeda

Not very reassuring. This failure is no where near as that of Bush. But it was bad enough. Can we trust the government to do everything to public us. I'm not convinced. How about hearings about how to fix something that should have been fixed by now. Better yet, we need a non-partisan commission on reform our terrorism fighting strategy. In those hearings, there should be consideration of new agency/department set up specifically to fight terrorism. That's what's really lacking. Homeland Security is a toothless and worthless agency. And CIA and FBI are not cutting it.

in reference to:

"In his first radio and Internet address of the new year, Mr. Obama also rebutted attacks by former Vice President Dick Cheney and other Republicans who since the incident have accused him of not recognizing that the struggle against terrorists is a war. Mr. Obama said he was well aware that “our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred.” The president’s speech, taped from Hawaii where he is nearing the end of a 10-day holiday vacation, was the third time he has publicly addressed the failed attack on Northwest Flight 253 bound for Detroit on Dec. 25. Mr. Obama noted that he has received preliminary reports about the incident but gave no more details about how a Nigerian man with known radical views was allowed to board a flight to the United States with explosives in his underwear. Mr. Obama’s comments about the involvement of Al Qaeda, however, were the most direct to date by the highest reaches of the American government. Administration officials and intelligence analysts previously had said they were increasingly confident that Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as the Yemeni branch calls itself, was involved, as it claimed. But the president until now had shied away from referencing that until analysts were further along in their assessment of the group’s activities and its ties to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian charged with attempting to blow up the airliner. “We’re learning more about the suspect,” Mr. Obama said in the Saturday address. “We know that he traveled to Yemen, a country grappling with crushing poverty and deadly insurgencies. It appears that he joined an affiliate of Al Qaeda and that this group, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for America.”"
- Obama Ties Failed Plane Attack to Al Qaeda - NYTimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)