From the State Department’s perspective, everything required by law was done. From Mr. Mutallab’s perspective, this was a devastating failure. Is there anything more difficult for a parent to do than report his child to authorities knowing the potential ramifications? It must have been heartbreaking for Mr. Mutallab to contact the American authorities and he should be highly praised for his actions.
Undoubtedly, Mr. Mutallab wasn’t only trying to prevent the loss of innocent life, but he was trying to protect his son. He likely hoped that his son might one day renounce his commitment to violent jihad, and was trying to prevent his son from taking actions that would make it impossible for him ever to join normal society. I'm sure Mr. Mutallab is relieved that his son’s attack was unsuccessful. Yet he must be devastated that his son, though still living, is a casualty, with no real hope of redemption.
The U.S. government failed Mr. Mutallab. This is tragic, since Mr. Mutallab did exactly what reasonable people hope other reasonable people will do. Report their children to the authorities if their children begin doing illegal or dangerous things, especially when those things that could result in the harm of innocent others. Think of this nation’s collective reaction to Columbine—why didn’t those parents report their children or take measures to stop them?
Right now, numerous entities that are supposed to be involved in preventing terrorist attacks against the United States are reviewing what went wrong in the case of the Christmas bomber. The State Department should consider carefully not only how they let down the American people, but how they let down Mr. Mutallab. They should recognize that encouraging this type of bravery is critical to the defense of our country.
The State Department spends millions of dollars each year on high-gloss public diplomacy campaigns which include radio and television programming, news articles, billboards and other advertizing and in some places polling and focus groups. The point of these campaigns is to improve the image of America abroad and to help build trust between Americans and people around the world. Failing to act on information brought to Embassy officials by concerned parents of radicalized children is not only a security failure; it’s a public diplomacy failure.
We need a groundswell of people who openly reject jihad and radical Islam and are willing to report to the authorities those who preach and act out violently. That begins with building trust with those who might be considering approaching U.S. officials with information, and trust begins by assuring those around the world that we will take their information seriously.