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January 02, 2010
Obama KNEW Possible Terror Threat Before His Trip To Hawaii
Obama Got Pre-Christmas Intelligence Briefing About Terror Threats to "Homeland"
Mark Hosenball
President Barack Obama received a high-level briefing only three days before Christmas about possible holiday-period terrorist threats against the US, Newsweek has learned. The briefing was centered on a written report, produced by US intelligence agencies, entitled "Key Homeland Threats", a senior US official said.
The senior Administration official, who asked for anonymity when discussing sensitive information, said that nowhere in this document was there any mention of Yemen, whose Al-Qaeda affiliate is now believed to have been behind the unsuccessful Christmas Day attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to bring down a transatlantic airliner with a bomb hidden in his underpants. However, the official declined to disclose any other information about the substance of the briefing, including what kind of specific warnings, if any, the President was given about possibly holiday attacks and whether Yemen came up during oral discussions.
According to the senior official, the holiday threat briefing, one in a series of regularly-scheduled sessions with top counter-terrorism officials, was held in the White House Situation Room on December 22.
Present were representatives of agencies involved in counter-terrorism policy and operations, including Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and FBI Director Robert Mueller. The CIA and National Intelligence Directors Office were represented by deputy agency heads: CIA deputy director Steven Kappes, and David Gompert, the principal deputy to National Intelligence Czar Dennis Blair. Also present was Michael Leiter, director of the National Counter-terrorism Center, a unit of the Intelligence Czar's office which was created after 9/11 to ensure that intelligence reporting about possible terrorist plots was shared quickly among all US agencies who might have some capability to do something about it.
The senior official said that beginning in early December, based on reports coming in from intelligence agencies, policy-makers had begun tracking a stream of information which alluded to a possible holiday-period plot against the US orchestrated from somewhere in Pakistan. However, the official said, this reporting later turned out to be "garbled" and it was determined that the threat probably was a washout. The official denied that the White House received any report, representing the concensus of US intelligence agencies, warning that a Holiday-period plot originating in Yemen and targeting the US homeland could be in the works.
In a background briefing for reporters on December 29, also attributed in an official White House transcript to a "senior administration official", that official asserted that in the wake of the attempted underpants attack, it had become clear to the President and top advisors that before Christmas, the US government was in posession of "bits and pieces" of information, which, if they had been properly knitted together, "could have...allowed us to disrupt the attack or certainly to know much more about the alleged attacker in such a way as to ensure that he was on, as the President suggested in his statement, a no-fly list."
In the briefing, the official identified three rough categories of information that the government had which could have been relevant to foiling the attack: information about Abdulmutallab and his plans, info about Al-Qaeda and their plans, and info "about potential attacks during the holiday period."
Asked about what kind of intelligence reporting was circulated to senior officials about possibly holiday period attacks before the failed underpants attack, a US intelligence official, who also asked for anonymity, explained: "As everybody knows, terrorists often speak in coded language, especially when they think their communications might be intercepted. There was no clear discussion of an attack, on Christmas or any other time, in the Middle East or anywhere else. But as veiled as the message was, it was spotted, processed, analyzed, and presented to senior policymakers as a warning sign-however vague-of a holiday attack. While this was handled properly, there were, to put it mildly, virtually no details at all. That happens." When Newsweek asked a senior Administration official about this characterization of a warning which was passed to White House policymakers, and whether it tracked what was presented at the December 22 Presidential briefing, the official would not comment.
Wild Thing's comment.........
He thumbed through it and flew to Hawaii so concerned was he. Guess he wasn’t “deeply concerned” like he said in his quickie speech. Obama was too busy worried about destroying our health care by getting the senate bill passed by Christmas. And besides Muslims are his brothers, he WUV's them.
Present were representatives of agencies involved in counter-terrorism policy and operations, including Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and FBI Director Robert Mueller.
AKA the Three Stooges.
They keep calling America the Homeland. I hate that. Homeland=Hitler.
Poll Asks: Is This The Most Incompetent Administration You’ve Ever Seen?
Posted by Wild Thing at January 2, 2010 01:50 AM
Comments
Although it is appalling to find out that he had the info and chose not to act, it is also not surprising.
When it comes to confronting our enemies and making them pay the price for their actions, the Left choses to look the other way and hope that the threat goes away.Clinton did this as did Carter.
Reagan, Bush I and Bush II, saw the treat for what it was, and acted accordingly. That is why during the years of their presidencies, we were known to take the fight to the enemy. The Islamists knew it and the attacks on our country and its citizens lessened considerably. President G.W. Bush made a comment, which to this day stands out in my mind. That was that he chose to take the fight to the enemy on their territory, thereby pinning them down. That, to me is the way to fight terrorism.
The politics of appeasement, of which this ignoring of the threat, is a part, does not work. Whether it be on the school yard or the World Stage, if the bully sees that you are not willing to take up the fight he keeps on coming. Stand up to him and show that you have some huevos, and he goes away.
Posted by: Sean at January 2, 2010 10:30 AM
obama is the most self serving SOB ever to be in the White House. To obama the worst thing about a terrorist attack is that it might embarass him. He would't give a damn about casualties or damage. Of course, Rahm Emanuel would see it as a crisis to not waste. Piss on this bunch of crooks and Marxists.
Posted by: TomR at January 2, 2010 11:11 AM
IMPEACH!!!!!!!!
Posted by: jan at January 2, 2010 11:38 AM
He knew before the Christmas day, then why didn't he say something. Although he didn't want to do anything he could've at least notified Air Marshals.
Abama has no foreign policy and doesn't want to be bothered with it. If it happens again he'd better have a better excuse than it was Bush's fault. That just won't cut it next time. He has run that excuse into the ground. This is the Abama watch now. No more excuses, Lead, follow or get the hell out of the way.
Posted by: Mark at January 2, 2010 12:16 PM
Sean, that sure is the truth. It is disgusting
but not surprising.
Posted by: Wild Thing at January 3, 2010 12:06 AM
Tom, DITTO all that!!!
Posted by: Wild Thing at January 3, 2010 12:08 AM
Jan, AMEN I want that so much.
Posted by: Wild Thing at January 3, 2010 12:09 AM
Mark, he really has, he is totally exposed
now more then ever what a bad leader he is.
What on earth will it take for his kool-aid
drinkers to finally wake up. This should get
some of them to see the light.
Posted by: Wild Thing at January 3, 2010 12:12 AM
