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Anti-Terror Official Stayed on Ski Trip After Learning of Failed Bomb Plot
National Counterterrorism Center Director Michael Leiter did not cut short his holiday ski trip when he learned of the attempted bombing of a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas Day, according to a report in the New York Daily News.Leiter, who is in charge of analyzing terror threats, didn't return to his office post in McLean, Va., until several days after the holiday, a decision that has raised some eyebrows in the intelligence community. "People have been grumbling that he didn't let a little terrorism interrupt his vacation," a source told the Daily News. The NCTC, the government's primary organization for analyzing all terrorism intelligence, has been roundly criticized for failing to "connect the dots" on Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian man charged with plotting to blow up Northwest Airlines flight 253 as it flew from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day. Leiter, who reports directly to Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, was appointed by President George W. Bush. He was sworn in as head of the NCTC on June 12, 2008 after serving as the center's acting director since 2007. Before joining the NCTC, Leiter served as the deputy chief of staff for the ODNI, where he helped coordinate its internal and external operations and create national intelligence centers, like the NCTC and National Counterproliferation Center. In a statement issued on Saturday -- eight days after the failed bomb attempt -- Leiter reaffirmed the center's commitment to preventing terrorist attacks perpetrated by Al Qaeda. "The failed attempt to destroy Northwest Flight 253 is the starkest of reminders of the insidious terrorist threats we face," Leiter said. "While this attempt ended in failure, we know with absolute certainty that Al Qaeda and those who support its ideology continue to refine their methods to test our defenses and pursue an attack on the homeland." "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," he said. "The American people expect and deserve nothing less." Leiter's spokesman, Carl Kropf, did not say when he returned from his ski trip and fully retook the reigns of the agency, according to the Daily News. Kropf's office said he was not immediately available for comment when contacted by FoxNews.com. Posted by: Fred 2010-01-08 |
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