After three days of virtual silence on the Christmas Day terrorist scare, President Obama emerged in public today, seeking to reassure Americans that his administration is doing all it can to prevent an attack and to learn lessons from the attempted downing of the airliner.
"We will not rest until we find all who were involved and hold them accountable," said Obama, who is on holiday in Hawaii with his family.
While the incident was a "serious reminder" of terrorism's dangers and could have led to the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians, the American people should rest assured that the federal government is "doing all in our power" to keep the travelers safe during the busy holiday season, he said. He was dressed in a serious suit and spoke from behind an official lectern in front of a presidential blue curtain, instead of less formal setting.
The Obama administration has ordered far stricter and more intrusive screening of airline passengers, especially those on international flights headed to the US. It has also ordered investigations into how travelers are placed on watch lists and how passengers are screened.
Obama said he has talked to top administration officials, who are monitoring the situation and informing members of Congress and the American public.
The president said he has instructed his national security team to keep up the pressure on terrorist groups targeting the US and vowed to "use every element of our national power" to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat terrorist networks -- whether they are based in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, or elsewhere.
He spoke just after Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a collection of militants based in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing. In a statement posted on the Internet, the group said it was retaliating against recent US-coordinated strikes against it in Yemen.
The 23-year-old Nigerian suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, coordinated with Al Qadea members and used explosives they manufactured, the group said.
As the Globe reported earlier this month, as the US steps up the hunt for Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, some of the terrorist network’s veteran operatives are flocking to Yemen, where an escalating civil war is turning the nearly lawless Arab nation into an attractive alternative base. Last week, Yemeni forces, backed by the US, launched attacks on suspected Al Qaeda hideouts, including a meeting of top leaders that might have included a Yemeni-American cleric linked to the suspect in the Fort Hood massacre.
