Al Qaeda Takes Credit for Plot

Al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack on Northwest Flight 253, and U.S. officials said the claim appears valid -- the clearest indication yet that the attempted takedown wasn't just the work of a lone radical inspired by Islamist rhetoric, as some investigators initially believed.The development came as evidence mounted that the U.S. didn't pursue potential leads that might have brought alleged Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to the attention of authorities, according to Congressional investigators and U.S. officials.Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano backtracked Monday from comments she made in televised interviews over the weekend, in which she said the U.S.'s security systems had worked. President Barack Obama, in his first public comments about the incident, promised the government would do everything it can to keep travelers secure. "We will not rest until we find all who were involved and hold them accountable," Mr. Obama said in televised remarks from Hawaii, where he is on vacation.A statement attributed to the group "al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula" claimed it was retaliating for what it says was the U.S.'s role in a recent Yemeni military offensive on al Qaeda. The statement was accompanied by photos of the suspect."The claim at this point appears valid," said one U.S. counterterrorism official. However, the depth of the relationship between al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Mr. Abdulmutallab is still unclear.The explosive used by Mr. Abdulmutallab, a substance known as PETN, is believed to have been used in the recent attempted assassination of Mohammed bin Nayyef al Saud, the Saudi deputy interior minister and point man on the war on terror. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for the attack.Mr. Abdulmutallab's method of concealing the device -- sewn into his underwear, where security personnel are unlikely to conduct a pat down -- is similar to the Saudi attack.The administration's initial public response has come under criticism from Republican lawmakers. Ms. Napolitano, who has come under fire for saying the system to detect terror threats worked, on Monday said that her initial comments were taken out of context. On NBC's "Today" show, she said that "our system did not work in this instance. No one is happy or satisfied with that."The administration has launched a review of its screening procedures, including the multitiered series of watch lists designed to prevent potential terrorists from traveling to the U.S. The review likely will include whether the U.S. should require foreign airlines to report cash purchases of tickets overseas, a Homeland Security official said Monday.
The case highlights the inability of the terrorist watch-list system to adapt to the evolving threat from al Qaeda, said one senior U.S. counterterrorism official. Intelligence reports have said for years the growing threat from al Qaeda comes from sympathizers who may not have a direct connection to the group's central leadership. U.S. terrorism defenses are still reliant on data that associates suspects with known al Qaeda operatives, rather than scrutinizing behavior that could indicate terrorist planning, the official said.
One area of investigation for lawmakers and congressional investigators is whether the State Department should have revoked Mr. Abdulmutallab's multiple-entry visa after his father came on November 19 to the U.S. embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, and reported that his son might have extremist ties in Yemen. An immediate revocation could have forced Mr. Abdulmutallab to reapply at another U.S. outpost overseas, giving authorities a chance to interview him face-to-face.
Instead, State Department officials say, the day after the father's visit, the agency put a note in Mr. Abdulmutallab's internal State Department file that would trigger an investigation if the Nigerian applied for a new visa in the future, a State Department official familiar with the agency's actions said Monday.
Although the State Department has the authority to independently revoke a visa, the official said, the agency rarely makes such decisions on its own. Instead, it relies on investigations by the National Counterterrorism Center, or NCTC, the multiagency clearing house for terrorism information.
The warning by Mr. Abdulmutallab's father should have been combined with information that could have been gleaned from airline personnel, such the suspect's purchase of his ticket with cash and his carrying only a backpack for an international flight. That behavioral profile "doesn't mean he should be on the no-fly list, but he should be checked out," the counterterrorism official said...more..http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126203574947307987.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popular