Out of the loop: Director of National Intelligence James Clapper was not briefed about the UK terrorism arrests
Red-faced White House officials admitted today that the nation’s top intelligence chief was mistakenly left in the dark about key terrorist arrests in London.
The humiliating confession came after Director of National Intelligence James Clapper stumbled when he was asked about the raids by ABC anchor Diane Sawyer.
The British arrests to foil an alleged al Qaeda terror plot got wide coverage on TV news shows and newspapers. But the spy chief appeared stumped when asked whether there were any US links.
Sawyer was talking to Mr Clapper, Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano, and John Brennan, the president's assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism.
Mr Clapper was caught totally off guard by Sawyer's reference to the London arrests, and Mr Brennan hastily broke in to comment on the situation.
Sawyer told Mr Clapper she was 'a little surprised' that he 'didn't know about London', to which he replied: 'I'm sorry, I didn't.'
AbdulMutalab son of a Nigeria banker.Went to Yemen to study language and later trained by AL Qeada to use PETN bom.Dad already inform and warn authorities in Nigeria about his son radical views before the sucidal attempt.
AbdulMutalab went to Yemen to study but make contact with Al Qeada believe train him to use PETN.
AbdullahMutalib failed to ignite the PETN bom strapped in his underwear.Injected a syringe into the underwear but no explosion but badly burn leg.Later jump by a passenger.
Pieces of underwear containing the PETN.
PETN package inside the terrorist underwear that fail to explode instead badly burn AbdulMutalib leg.
The U.S. government had enough information about a Nigerian man and an al Qaeda's cell in Yemen to potentially disrupt their alleged plot to blow up a passenger jet on Christmas Day, a White House review found.
Here's what U.S. spy agencies and the State Department knew about the accused bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and the growing threat posed by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, in the months before the attempted December 25 bombing:
NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY
About four months before the attempted bombing on December 25, the NSA intercepted telephone conversations in which the leaders of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula talked about the possibility of using an unidentified "Nigerian" bomber in an attack, according to intelligence officials. John Brennan, President Barack Obama's top White House adviser on counterterrorism, said the intercepts were shared with the National Counterterrorism Center.
WHITE HOUSE
The flow of intelligence picked up between mid-October and late December, but U.S. counterterrorism officials learned as early as August how effective al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula had become at concealing the explosive PETN, known as pentaerythritol, in the undergarments of would-be suicide bombers.
The intelligence stemmed from al Qaeda's attempted assassination on August 27 of Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who heads Saudi Arabia's anti-terrorism campaign.
Brennan, who visited Saudi Arabia less than a week after the attack, said the United States worked with the Saudis to gather intelligence about al Qaeda's use of PETN but added: "There was nothing in that assassination attempt against Prince Mohammed bin Nayef that indicated aviation was a target."
The PETN hidden in Abdulmutallab's underwear failed to detonate.
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
The CIA first learned of Abdulmutallab on November 18, when his father came to the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, to voice concerns that his son may have come under the influence of militants and had planned to travel to Yemen.
The CIA said it worked with the embassy to add Abdulmutallab and his possible Yemeni contacts to the U.S. terrorism database and forwarded biographical information about him to the National Counterterrorism Center.
Critics say the CIA should have done more to flag the intelligence.
The White House said: "Though this information alone could not predict Mr. Abdulmutallab's eventual involvement in the attempted 25 December attack, it provided an opportunity to link information on him with earlier intelligence reports that contained fragmentary information."
STATE DEPARTMENT
U.S. diplomats also took part in the November 18 meeting with Abdulmutallab's father in Abuja and forwarded the information by unclassified cable to the National Counterterrorism Center on November 20. But officials said the information was deemed insufficient to revoke Abdulmutallab's U.S. visa.
Department officials argue that they generally rely on an interagency screening system to advise if visas should be revoked on security-related grounds, and that no such recommendation was made in this case.
Critics also say the State Department should have been alert to the threat after Britain denied Abdulmutallab a student visa to attend a bogus institution. U.S. officials say British authorities never informed them that the visa was denied, although they describe cooperation between the two countries since the incident as "seamless."
OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM CENTER
The Director of National Intelligence is ultimately responsible for integrating foreign, military and domestic intelligence. For months, DNI Dennis Blair and CIA Director Leon Panetta have waged a behind-the-scenes turf battle over Blair's role, but the White House and intelligence officials say the DNI, the CIA and other intelligence agencies shared information as they were supposed to.
Telephone intercepts and biographical information from the NSA and the CIA were shared with the National Counterterrorism Center, which was established in 2004 to serve as the main repository for counterterrorism intelligence gathered by more than 16 agencies. Critics say the center did not "connect the dots" as it was designed to do.
Lawmaker demand more security changes after failed attempt by suicidal person on US Flight.
President Obama's push to revamp the terror watch list, improve airport screening and hold the intelligence community more accountable for tracking suspects does not go far enough, some lawmakers say, arguing that more specific steps need to be taken to avoid a repeat of the attempted Christmas Day bombing.
President Obama's preliminary review of the attempted Christmas Day airline bombing would "shock" Americans, the most startling aspect of it may have been that the administration was pledging to do what seemed obvious to many -- at least in hindsight.
The president's push to revamp the terror watch list, improve airport screening and hold the intelligence community more accountable for tracking suspects had some lawmakers saying on Friday that the administration must offer more specific steps if it hopes to avoid a repeat of the alleged plot to blow up an international flight heading to Detroit.
"The president says we're going to have smart, sensible screening at airports. You know what? I hope so. It's about time," Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., told Fox News on Friday.
Lawmakers applauded the administration for the swift steps it has taken in response to the attempted bombing, but they are calling for additional, more specific changes in the months ahead.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins, ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, said the State Department should suspend the visas of everybody in the terror database -- which contains more than a half-million people -- pending "further investigation." The Christmas Day suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, had been in that database, but was not moved to any smaller list that would have required secondary airport screening or prohibited him from flying. His visa, meanwhile, was never revoked.
Collins also said the Department of Homeland Security should expand programs to verify that all foreigners flying to the United States have valid visas.
"If the State Department had cancelled Abdulmutallab's visa, he would never have been permitted to board his flight in Amsterdam," she said in a written statement.
Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and John McCain, R-Ariz., wrote a letter to Obama urging him not only to halt the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to Yemen, but to all "countries with a significant Al Qaeda presence."
They listed Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Algeria and Sudan among them.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, already had warned the administration that the standards for watchlisting suspected terrorists are "too restrictive."
She urged the president in a recent letter to loosen the standards so that anyone "reasonably believed" to be connected with a terrorist group would be added to a watchlist and denied a visa.
It doesn't appear as if Obama's policy recommendations go that far -- at least not yet.
The administration, which has already started to expand the no-fly list, plans to conduct a "thorough review" of the terror database and review the visa status of those on it. It plans to review whether any "adjustments" are needed and also to review criteria for issuing visas.
The Obama administration has instituted a series of other changes since the failed attack two weeks ago. The Transportation Security Administration has called for extra screening for U.S.-bound flights at airports in 14 countries of interest; the State Department is changing the way it notifies other agencies about terror suspects; and the administration is halting the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to Yemen, where Abdulmutallab visited before the attempted bombing.
The changes announced Thursday were a bit more vague. The administration pledged to pursue "enhanced screening," improve the "rigor and raise the standard of tradecraft of intelligence analysis," assign specific responsibility for certain terror suspect cases and establish a process for prioritizing cases, along with the review of the visa and watchlist system.
The recommendations came after a two-week review that found multiple shortcomings in the intelligence community. Obama said the information was available to prevent the suspect from boarding a U.S.-bound plane armed with explosives, but he said officials failed to connect the dots.
The CIA, which has taken some of the blame in the aftermath of the attempt, announced Thursday that it will make an effort to more quickly distribute information on suspected terrorists, expand name traces on suspects and increase the number of analysts in hot-spot countries like Yemen.
Going forward, the president said he's committed to an all-hands-on-deck approach to rooting out future threats.
"There is, of course, no foolproof solution. As we develop new screening technologies and procedures, our adversaries will seek new ways to evade them, as was shown by the Christmas attack," he said. "In the never-ending race to protect our country, we have to stay one step ahead of a nimble adversary. That's what these steps are designed to do."
Hundreds have been killed in drone attacks since mid-2008.
Suspected US drones have increasingly targeted North Waziristan, a bastion of Al-Qaeda fighters and the Haqqani network
. A bomb exploded in Pakistani-controled Kashmir killing three security personnel
A suspected double US drone attack has killed at least 15 people in Pakistan's northwestern tribal region.
The strikes on Wednesday occurred in North Waziristan, where several opposition groups stage attacks inside the district and into bordering Afghanistan.
Some officials have claimed that as many as 12 opposition fighters were among those dead.
The first drone attack hit a mud fort in Datta Khel region of the tribal district, with the second missile striking as people were searching in the rubble more than an hour later.
Kamal Hyder, Al Jazeera's correspondent in the capital Islamabad, said it was hard to say whether those who died were opposition fighters or citizens.
Tensions
"We never know whether they are militants or civilians because if you look at the number of strikes and the number of casualties on the ground the militants do not figure very prominently," he said.
"Today ... there was the first strike by the drone in which six people were killed. Immediately after that people went to the rescue and as the rescue efforts were still underway the second strike took place, causing the death toll to rise to at least 15 people.
"This is likely to cause considerable anger because that rescue effort was an effort to save lives and as it came under attack it is likely to raise tensions between Pakistan and the US."
The US has identified North Waziristan as an area from where al-Qaeda, the Taliban and the large Haqqani network launch attacks on their own and international forces in Afghanistan and is increasingly initiating crackdowns in the region.
At least seven US CIA agents were killed by a suicide bomber last week across the North Waziristan border in Afghanistan.
There have been a reported four drone attacks in North Waziristan since the CIA deaths, killing at least 20 people.
At least 74 US drone missile strikes have killed nearly 700 people in Pakistan since August 2008.
Kashmir bombing
Separately, a bomb attack has killed three security personnel outside an army base in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, close to the line separating it from Indian territory, police say.
The attack came one day after Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistani president, visited the area.
The injured were removed to a hospital in Rawla Kot, an adjoining town.
The bomb exploded outside a barracks in Tarar Khal, 150km east of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, Pakistan's private Geo television channel said.
Tarar Kehl is a small village with a local population of around 6,500 people.
Raja Farooq Haider, the elected leader of Pakistani Kashmir, confirmed the news of the explosion.
"The bomb blast took place in an army area. The authorities are on site. We have taken the injured to the nearby Rawla Kot hospital," he told Geo.
"Police and experts are investigating whether it was a suicide blast or a planted bomb."
Speaking from the nearby town of Pallandri, Irfan Masaood Kishvi, a senior police officer, told the AFP news agency: "It was a bomb blast. It could be a suicide blast, but we are collecting the evidence.
"It was outside the army barracks ... . Three security personnel have been martyred and three wounded. The injured have been taken to the Combined Military Hospital."
Two suspected US drone missile strikes have killed at least 12 people in a tribal region of north-west Pakistan, Pakistani security officials say.
The missiles targeted a compound described as a Taliban training centre, about 30km west of Miranshah the main town in North Waziristan.
Officials say the first strike killed seven people. Five died in a second attack as they searched for bodies.
It is the fourth suspected US drone attack in North Waziristan in a week.
North and South Waziristan are a major sanctuary for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.
Hundreds of people, many of them civilians, have been killed in drone attacks since mid-2008. Top Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was among them.
Pakistan has publicly criticised drone attacks, saying they fuel support for the militants.
The US military does not routinely confirm drone attacks, but analysts say the US armed forces and CIA in Afghanistan are the only forces capable of deploying drones in the region.
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Mohamed ElBaradei the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency
"If anybody has any information we have not shared, that has passed muster, been assessed critically in accordance with our practices, please step forward today. Otherwise, as a preacher would say, you should forever hold your peace," ElBaradei told delegates. "We have, in our reports, always tried not to understate the facts or overstate the facts. We have serious concerns, but we are not in a state of panic. Because we have not seen diversion...
conservative Jomhuri Eslami quoted Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
President Ahmednijan visit the nuclear plan in Iran.
the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency urged the 35-nation governing body to “put (your) heads together to break the logjam,” on the same day that Tehran submitted a package of proposals to foreign powers. The proposal is still secret and not out yet to the press.
He criticised countries – he did not name them but was clearly referring to Israel and France — who have suggested he hid evidence from his latest written report on Iran, pointing undeniably to illicit Iranian research into the making of atomic bombs.
“Talking about formalities, whether the work plan has been implemented or not, whether people telling us how to suck eggs, how to write our reports, whether there is a (secret) annex (on Iran) — these are not the issues,” he said in a swipe at both sides of the debate.
“If anybody…has any information we have not shared, that has passed muster, been assessed critically in accordance with our practices, please step forward today. Otherwise, as a preacher would say, you should forever hold your peace,” ElBaradei told delegates.
“We have, in our reports, always tried not to understate the facts or overstate the facts. We have serious concerns, but we are not in a state of panic. Because we have not seen diversion of nuclear material, we have not seen components of nuclear weapons. We do not have any information to that effect.”
ElBaradei’s Aug. 28 report lent credence to a Western the intelligence dossier implying military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear activity. But ElBaradei said caveats were still in order.
“It’s alleged (studies), the whole question is about accuracy, whether this is real — that is the $64,000 question. That is where we are stuck, we have a limited ability to authenticate,” ElBaradei said. “People talk about assessments. I’m not a rocket scientist,” the 67-year-old lawyer and diplomat said.
But the agency is losing patience with Iran, he said, for stonewalling IAEA efforts to verify that its nuclear programme is peaceful.
“I know you have been reacting to others,” ElBaradei told Iranian ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh, referring to Tehran’s 2006 decision to stop wider-ranging agency inspections because of U.N. sanctions. “But you are not penalizing others, you are penalizing yourself.”
Further, ElBaradei prodded Iran to stop evading a U.S.-led big power offer of negotiations that would provide it major trade benefits if it reined in its nuclear activity and made it transparent to non-proliferation inspectors.
“I’ve told (Iran) I don’t see where the problem is. The U.S. is making an offer without preconditions on that base of mutual respect. Soltanieh has said they are ready to have a comprehensive dialogue. I say the offer by the US can not be refused because it has no conditions attached to it and is based on mutual respect.”
He also warned Iran’s strongest Western critics against hyping the Iranian threat by talking about supposed IAEA cover-ups. “(You are) trying to undermine the agency, (but) in the end (you are) undermining your own credibility. We went through this during the time of Iraq.”
An outspoken ElBaradei clashed with the former U.S. administration over what he saw as its confrontational policy towards Iraq and Iran. He has said that anyone considering military force against the Islamic Republic would be “bonkers”.
ElBaradei’s more soft-spoken, reserved successor, Yukiya Amano of Japan, takes over in December.
Iran responds : No suspension of uranium enrichment: Iran
TEHRAN — Iran's proposal to world powers aimed at resolving the standoff over its atomic programme talks of global nuclear disarmament, a top Iranian official was quoted on Thursday as saying, while insisting there will be no suspension of uranium enrichment.
"This proposal covers all issues of interests... non-proliferation, disarmament... and using technology for peaceful purpose," the conservative Jomhuri Eslami quoted Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as saying.
The paper said Soltanieh made the comments in an address to the IAEA's board members at their meeting in Vienna on Wednesday.
Iran's policy, he stressed, "is not to have suspension (of uranium enrichment) and to fully go ahead with our undeniable right of using peaceful nuclear technology."
Iran's foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Wednesday handed over Tehran's package of proposals to representatives of six world powers -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany.
These nations, known as P5+1 are charged with negotiating with Iran to resolve the controversy over its atomic programme, which the international community suspects is aimed at making nuclear weapons. Tehran denies these charges.
Details of Iran's proposals to P5+1 have not been made public.
US respond : Iran may have fuel for crude nuclear weapon United States military and intelligence officials have revealed that Iran may possess enough fuel to assemble a crude nuclear weapon, although how quickly such a device can be built remains unclear.
Given the pace of Iran’s uranium enrichment, some observers are advising President Barack Obama to begin preparing military options.
The New York Times reported that Iran “has created enough nuclear fuel to make a rapid, if risky, sprint for a nuclear weapon.”
In interviews over the past two months, intelligence and military officials, and members of the Obama administration, have said they are convinced that Iran has made significant progress on uranium enrichment, especially over the past year…
It is unclear how many months — or even years — it would take Iran to complete that final design work, and then build a warhead that could fit atop its long-range missiles. That question has been the subject of a series of sharp, behind-the-scenes exchanges between the Israelis and top American intelligence and military officials, dating back nearly two years and increasing in intensity in recent months.
Meanwhile Iran responded by presenting a new proposal for talks. The content of that proposal has not been made public
