HONOLULU — President Barack Obama is reviewing reports from homeland security officials as his administration tries to determine what U.S. policy and personnel failures preceded the attempted Detroit jetliner bombing.
Intelligence officials, meanwhile, prepared for what was shaping up to be uncomfortable hearings before Congress about miscommunication among anti-terrorism agencies and sweeping changes expected under Obama’s watch.
Democrats joined a chorus led by Obama in declaring the government’s intelligence procedures in need of repair.
Among them, Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., said that when the government gets tipped to trouble, as it did before a 23-year-old Nigerian man boarded the Northwest Airlines jet with explosives, “someone’s hair should be on fire.”
One senior administration official told reporters traveling with the vacationing president: “The failure to share that information is not going to be tolerated.” The official, like others involved in the reviews, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence discussions.
The Senate Intelligence Committee announced Jan. 21 hearings as part of an investigation to begin sooner.
“We will be following the intelligence down the rabbit hole to see where the breakdown occurred and how to prevent this failure in the future,” said Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri, top Republican on the committee. “Somebody screwed up big time.”
Obama received a preliminary assessment ahead of meetings he will hold in Washington next week.
Obama began his new year with a secure phone call with counterterrorism adviser John Brennan and National Security Council chief of staff Denis McDonough to discuss the reviews.
