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January 8, 2010

Report Faults US Intel for Security Lapses in Failed Jetliner Attack
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The Obama administration has released a report on the intelligence
lapses that failed to prevent the botched Christmas Day jetliner attack.
The report says the US received “discrete pieces of intelligence” to
identify the suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, as early as October
that should have kept him off the plane. Abdulmutallab was ultimately
flagged for extra screening while the plane was in flight. Singling out
the National Counterterrorism Center and the CIA, the report also says
US intelligence agencies had focused too heavily on al-Qaeda plans to
strike US targets in Yemen instead of directly inside the United States.
Speaking from the White House, President Obama said he had ordered
changes to address the security lapses.

President Obama: “I am less interested in passing out blame than I am in
learning from and correcting these mistakes to make us safer, for
ultimately the buck stops with me. As president, I have a solemn
responsibility to protect our nation and our people, and when the system
fails, it is my responsibility.”



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