«HONOLULU — President Obama publicly acknowledged for the first time a link between Al Qaeda and the 23-year-old Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 as it approached the Detroit airport on Christmas Day.
“It appears that he joined an affiliate of Al Qaeda, and that this group — Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula — trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for America,” Obama said of the suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, in his weekly radio and Internet address.
White House aides have acknowledged Abdulmutallab’s ties to Al Qaeda, which claimed responsibility for the attempted attack earlier this week, but Obama did not mention the link in either of his two previous statements on the attack.
Amid growing scrutiny of intelligence agencies, Obama ticked off what he’s accomplished in terms of national security since he took office in January. While “often out of sight, our progress has been unmistakable,” he said, adding that it has “saved countless American lives.”
Obama zeroed in on Yemen in the weekly address, highlighting his efforts to strengthen U.S. relations with the central government, which preceded the attempted attack and which he said have already produced results.
“Training camps have been struck; leaders eliminated; plots disrupted,” Obama said. “And all those involved in the attempted act of terrorism on Christmas must know — you too will be held to account.”
While Obama noted that Abdulmutallab traveled to Yemen in advance of the attempted attack, he characterized the country as “grappling with crushing poverty and deadly insurgencies” but did not point out that the would-be bomber was from a very wealthy family in Nigeria.
Obama is currently reviewing preliminary results of the reviews he ordered into the terrorist watch-list system and airport security procedures in advance of a meeting Tuesday with top intelligence and security officials.
He characterized the reviews — which are being led by his counterterrorism adviser John Brennan — as part of his efforts to give intelligence, law enforcement and homeland security officials the resources they need to help keep Americans safe.
“This includes making sure these communities — and the people in them — are coordinating effectively and are held accountable at every level,” Obama said.
Obama recognized his upcoming one-year anniversary in office and offered listeners an accounting of what he’s done in terms of national security since last January.
“On that day I also made it very clear — our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred and that we will do whatever it takes to defeat them and defend our country, even as we uphold the values that have always distinguished America among nations,” Obama said.
“And make no mistake, that's exactly what we've been doing,” he said, citing the war winding down in Iraq and the increased U.S. resources directed to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Obama said that “though often out of sight, our progress has been unmistakable. Along with our partners, we've disrupted terrorist financing, cut off recruiting chains, inflicted major losses on Al Qaeda's leadership, thwarted plots here in the United States and saved countless American lives.”
He ended by setting his own New Year’s resolution — one that he had high hopes for heading into his first year in office: bipartisanship.
“[A]s our reviews continue, let us ask the questions that need to be asked. Let us make the changes that need to be made. Let us debate the best way to protect the country we all love. That is the right and responsibility of every American and every elected official,” he said.
“But as we go forward, let us remember this — our adversaries are those who would attack our country, not our fellow Americans, not each other,” Obama said, highlighting the “confidence and optimism” Americans shared after Sept. 11.
“Instead of succumbing to partisanship and division, let's summon the unity that this moment demands. Let's work together, with a seriousness of purpose, to do what must be done to keep our country safe. As we begin this new year, I cannot imagine a more fitting resolution to guide us — as a people and as a nation.”»
in POLITICO.COM