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Napolitano Backtracks, Says System Failed

Homeland Security chief changes stance; visa oversight probed

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Dec 28, 2009 2:22 PM CST
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(Newser) – Facing a storm of criticism for saying "the system worked" in the attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253, Janet Napolitano reversed course today. "Our system did not work in this instance," the Homeland Security secretary said. She added, "No one is happy or satisfied with that," and said the department was reviewing the oversights that allowed Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to board the Detroit-bound flight out of Amsterdam.

Homeland Security is still trying to figure out why it failed to connect the dots in Abdulmutallab's case, the Los Angeles Times reports. His father alerted authorities at the American embassy in Nigeria to his concerns about his radicalized son, but nothing in the system flagged the fact that the son already had an American visa, the BBC reports. Being on a watch list does not necessarily prevent travelers from entering the US.

US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano speaks at the 31st International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners in Madrid, on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009.
US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano speaks at the 31st International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners in Madrid, on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009.   (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano talks to the media during a joint press conference with World Customs Organization in Brussels, Friday Nov. 6 ,2009.
US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano talks to the media during a joint press conference with World Customs Organization in Brussels, Friday Nov. 6 ,2009.   (AP Photo/Thierry Charlier)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 41 comments
Doctor-Zaius
Dec 31, 2009 3:25 AM CST
Actually the true cause of 9/11 can be traced back to McKinley
Snarfeh
Dec 30, 2009 7:52 AM CST
@not deep - What the FUCK are you talking about? I never, EVER said Obama was brave, courageous or anything else but still, you see only what you are able to see. Nothing else you say is relevant simply because you constantly put words in other people's mouths. When you can stop seeing what you *think* you see and respond to what is said, I'll talk to you, but I'm not wasting any more time on your blind ass.
Gallavant
Dec 30, 2009 6:15 AM CST
Yeah, here's some context for that statement, i.e. what Napolitano actually said, not what everyone's pretending she said. "Number two, I think the important thing to recognize here is that once this incident occurred, everything happened that should have. The passengers reacted correctly, the crew reacted correctly, within an hour to 90 minutes, all 128 flights in the air had been notified. And those flights already had taken mitigation measures on the off-chance that there was somebody else also flying with some sort of destructive intent. So the system has worked really very, very smoothly over the course of the past several days... And I would leave you with that message, the traveling public is safe. We have instituted some additional screening and security measures in light of this incident. But again, everybody reacted as they should, the system -- once the incident occurred, the system worked." (<--- and there's the quote.)

 
terrorism • Nigeria • Detroit • Department of Homeland Security • Amsterdam • Janet Napolitano • al-Qaeda • Homeland Security • Detroit terror incident • Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab • Northwest Flight 253

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