Important signs missed:
Father/banker saying ‘Watch out for my son.’
Buying the ticket with cash
Coming from Yemen
No luggage

Inclination to over-react.

Not a problem that can be fixed by better sensors.

James Lewis: “We need to slow down the rate of recruitment.” (of young Muslims)

Michael Leiter, the top official in charge of analyzing terror threats with the NCTC did not cut short his ski vacation after the underwear bomber nearly blew up an Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day, according to a report in the New York Daily News.

Michael Leiter, director of the National Counterterrorism Center since 2007, decided not to return to his agency’s “bat cave” nerve center in McLean, Va. until several days after the Christmas Day bombing attempt.

Wikipedia: National Counterterrorism Center -NCTC

SOURCE: New York Daily News NCTC director Michael Leiter remained on ski slopes after Christmas Day airline bombing attempt

President Barack Obama on Tuesday acknowledged “deficiencies” and a “systemic failure” in the nation’s national security and anti-terror system regarding the attempt on Northwest Airlines Flight 253..

Obama said U.S. intelligence officials were warned weeks ago about the Nigerian man alleged to have tried to blow up a U.S.-bound flight on Christmas Day, and the man should never have been permitted to board the plane.

President Barack Obama called the breach in airline safety and national security “totally unacceptable.”

VIDEO could have and should have triggered red flags … ‘Totally Unacceptable’ … Read the full story

Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, a Nigerian engineering student at University College London, is said to have admitted to trying to detonate an explosive powder taped to his leg with chemicals aboard the Airbus 330 which was carrying 278 passengers. The explosive powder on his body was undetected before boarding KLM Flight 588 in Lagos, Nigeria and before he connected at Amsterdam to Northwest 253 destined to Detroit.

Read the full story