.After confirming link, Obama says al Qaida in Yemen will be punished
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama promised Saturday that an al Qaida affiliate in Yemen apparently responsible for training and equipping a man accused of trying to destroy a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day will be “held to account” for its actions.
Speaking during his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama confirmed that a Yemeni-branch of the terrorist group appeared to be behind the failed bombing attempt. A 23-year-old Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab, has been charged with trying to blow up Northwest Flight 253 as it descended into Detroit Metro Airport on a transatlantic flight from Amsterdam.
Obama, who ordered a full scale review of air travel screening and other homeland security measures in the wake of the incident, said U.S. officials are learning more about Abdulmuttalab — whose name failed to appear on a no-fly watch list even though his father, a Nigerian banker, had contacted American authorities with worries that his son might have been radicalized.
“We know that he traveled to Yemen, a country grappling with crushing poverty and deadly insurgencies,” the president said of Abdulmuttalab. “It appears that he joined an affiliate of al Qaida, and that this group — al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula — trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for America.”
It was the most direct confirmation to date by the Obama administration of al Qaida’s involvement following the group’s statement of responsibility three days after the failed attempt.
Obama said his administration’s partnerships with countries where al Qaida is active — Yemen’s government included — have already “put unrelenting pressure on these extremists” and succeeded in disrupting their operations though that progress is “often out of sight.” Al Qaida strongholds in Yemen were hit the week before Christmas.
“Training camps have been struck; leaders eliminated; plots disrupted,” Obama said. “And all those involved in the attempted act of terrorism on Christmas must know — you, too, will be held to account.”
The United States spent $67 million last year for counterterrorism activities in Yemen, more than in any nation other than Pakistan.
One Michigan critic, Rep. Mike Rogers, a Howell Republican and member of the House Intelligence Committee, chided the administration, however, saying it has moved to a “law enforcement perspective” instead of an intelligence-gathering one. That has created gaps in the system, he said.
Rather than Abdulmuttalab being treated as an enemy combatant and interrogated, Rogers said, “the first thing they did when they grabbed him was give him his Miranda rights.”
U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer, a Battle Creek Democrat and member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said he thought the president’s message was a needed one, letting Americans know about U.S. efforts to combat al Qaida in Yemen and find and kill those responsible for planning the alleged attack.
In the meantime, Schauer said, he will be working with the Aviation Subcommittee to determine why air marshals aren’t on every flight and whether full body scan technology is needed in screening passengers.
Obama is expected to get a full briefing from Homeland Security and other officials Tuesday.
He concluded his address saying Americans should remember their “adversaries are those who would attack our country,” not other Americans they disagree with politically. “Instead of succumbing to partisanship and division, let’s summon the unity that this moment demands.”
FREEP
Speaking during his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama confirmed that a Yemeni-branch of the terrorist group appeared to be behind the failed bombing attempt. A 23-year-old Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab, has been charged with trying to blow up Northwest Flight 253 as it descended into Detroit Metro Airport on a transatlantic flight from Amsterdam.
Obama, who ordered a full scale review of air travel screening and other homeland security measures in the wake of the incident, said U.S. officials are learning more about Abdulmuttalab — whose name failed to appear on a no-fly watch list even though his father, a Nigerian banker, had contacted American authorities with worries that his son might have been radicalized.
“We know that he traveled to Yemen, a country grappling with crushing poverty and deadly insurgencies,” the president said of Abdulmuttalab. “It appears that he joined an affiliate of al Qaida, and that this group — al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula — trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for America.”
It was the most direct confirmation to date by the Obama administration of al Qaida’s involvement following the group’s statement of responsibility three days after the failed attempt.
Obama said his administration’s partnerships with countries where al Qaida is active — Yemen’s government included — have already “put unrelenting pressure on these extremists” and succeeded in disrupting their operations though that progress is “often out of sight.” Al Qaida strongholds in Yemen were hit the week before Christmas.
“Training camps have been struck; leaders eliminated; plots disrupted,” Obama said. “And all those involved in the attempted act of terrorism on Christmas must know — you, too, will be held to account.”
The United States spent $67 million last year for counterterrorism activities in Yemen, more than in any nation other than Pakistan.
One Michigan critic, Rep. Mike Rogers, a Howell Republican and member of the House Intelligence Committee, chided the administration, however, saying it has moved to a “law enforcement perspective” instead of an intelligence-gathering one. That has created gaps in the system, he said.
Rather than Abdulmuttalab being treated as an enemy combatant and interrogated, Rogers said, “the first thing they did when they grabbed him was give him his Miranda rights.”
U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer, a Battle Creek Democrat and member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said he thought the president’s message was a needed one, letting Americans know about U.S. efforts to combat al Qaida in Yemen and find and kill those responsible for planning the alleged attack.
In the meantime, Schauer said, he will be working with the Aviation Subcommittee to determine why air marshals aren’t on every flight and whether full body scan technology is needed in screening passengers.
Obama is expected to get a full briefing from Homeland Security and other officials Tuesday.
He concluded his address saying Americans should remember their “adversaries are those who would attack our country,” not other Americans they disagree with politically. “Instead of succumbing to partisanship and division, let’s summon the unity that this moment demands.”
FREEP
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