Obama blames 'systemic failure'

HONOLULU — President Obama declared Tuesday that there was a "systemic failure" of the nation's security apparatus after being told about more missed signals and uncorrelated intelligence that should have prevented a would-be bomber from boarding a flight for the United States.

The president was told in a briefing Tuesday morning while vacationing in Hawaii that the government had information before the thwarted bombing that would have been a clear warning sign had it been shared with agencies, a senior official said.

Two officials said the government had intelligence from Yemen before Christmas that leaders of a branch of al-Qaida there were talking about "a Nigerian" being prepared for a terrorist attack.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian linked to a branch of al-Qaida in Yemen, came to the attention of U.S. authorities when his father went to the U.S. Embassy in Lagos last month to report that his son had expressed radical views before disappearing.

The embassy sent a cable to Washington, which resulted in Abdulmutallab's name being entered in a database of 550,000 people with possible ties to terrorism. But he was not put on the much smaller no-fly list of 4,000 people or on a list of 14,000 people who are required to undergo additional screening before flying, nor was his multiple-entry visa to the United States revoked.

"It now appears that weeks ago this information was passed to a component of our intelligence community but was not effectively distributed so as to get the suspect's name on a no-fly list," Obama said of the father's warning.

At a Marine base outside Honolulu, Obama said, "The warning signs would have triggered red flags and the suspect would have never been allowed to board that plane for America."

Two U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the intelligence-sharing lapse involved a report the CIA prepared based on information from Abdulmutallab's father. It was not shared with the broader security community for follow-up assessment or consideration of placing his name on the watch list.

With Republicans on the attack against the administration for not taking terrorism seriously enough, Democrats returned fire by accusing the opposition of standing in the way of needed personnel and money. "All year long, we've asked the question: What is the administration's overarching strategy to confront the terrorist threat and keep America safe?" Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader, said Tuesday.

Democrats countered that Republicans had shown disregard for any terrorism risk by blocking the president's nominee for head of the Transportation Security Administration and by voting this year against a measure providing $44 billion for Department of Homeland Security operations.