Obama orders review of airline safety procedures; officials acknowledge failures
HONOLULU (AP) _ President Barack Obama has ordered a review of how U.S. intelligence organizations keep the skies safe _ or don't, as demonstrated by a failed Christmas Day attack on a Detroit-bound flight from Amsterdam.
Obama has not yet tapped someone to head the multi-agency probe, but White House officials acknowledge the recent incident involving a 23-year-old Nigerian with alleged ties to terrorists has made clear there are plenty of failed areas to examine. The suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was on one advisory list, but never caught the attention of U.S. counter terrorist screeners despite his father's warnings to U.S. Embassy officials in Nigeria last month.
"The gathering of information, as it relates to the watch lists, has begun," said Denis McDonough, the chief of staff to the National Security Council. "We began to gather that data, and we'll continue to gather more."
But no one is yet running the investigation, said McDonough, one of the president's top advisers, who spoke to reporters traveling with the vacationing president in Hawaii.
The separate Obama-ordered review of security procedures facing the millions of airline travelers each year is under way under the authority of the Homeland Security Department. That probe, officials said, centers on how Abdulmutallab was able to get aboard a United States-bound plane with materials that might have brought down the plane during its final hour in the air.
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Key US security agencies lack permanent leaders as administration focuses on air safety
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Two federal agencies charged with keeping potential terrorists off airplanes and out of the country have been without their top leaders for nearly a year.
It took the Obama administration more than eight months to nominate anyone to lead the Transportation Security Administration and the Customs and Border Protection agency.
The attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack on a Detroit-bound airliner has prompted a review of U.S. security policies. The acting heads of those agencies _ both created in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks _ will be at the forefront of these discussions.
Bogged down with health care reform, the Senate has yet to set a date to hold hearings for the Customs position. And Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., has placed a hold on the president's choice to head the TSA over the senator's concern that the new leader would let TSA screeners join a labor union. This has some Democrats blaming politics for the vacancy.