Washington, DC, United States (AHN) - The dust on the weekly address from U.S. President Barack Obama had not yet settled down when came the scathing remarks from Michael E. Leiter, the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) reminding the Americans "the insidious terrorist threats," faced by them.
Leiter punched his statement with an underlying threat of more attacks after referring to the failed bid of December 25 on the Detroit bound transatlantic flight originating in NIgeria.
The intelligence chief minced no words saying, "While this attempt ended in failure we know with absolute certainty that Al-Qa'ida and those who support its ideology continue to refine their methods to test our defenses and pursue an attack on the Homeland."
Obama in his speech earlier today had used stern criticism of the intelligence services for failing to prevent the December 25 attack, despite warning signs.
President Obama had expressed his disappointment with the intelligence services as he promised, "(to make sure) these communities-and the people in them-are coordinating effectively and are held accountable at every level. And as President, that is what I will do."
"Our most sacred responsibility is to be focused on our mission -- detecting and preventing terrorist attacks from happening on our soil and against U.S. interests," Leiter said. "The American people expect and deserve nothing less."
It is an ironic scenario of history repeating itself as the NCTC was created in 2004 to coordinate efforts between U.S. intelligence agencies, whose failure to share information was lambasted by the commission looking into the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Today, after the Dec 25 attack, again the fingers are pointed at the failure of the U.S. intelligence agencies to coordinate and share information despite the formation of the NCTC.
Source:allheadlinenews.com/
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