Author Topic: Obama Got Pre-Christmas Intelligence Briefing About Terror Threats to "Homeland"  (Read 2103 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline bijou

  • Topic Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8937
  • Reputation: +336/-26
Quote
President Barack Obama received a high-level briefing only three days before Christmas about possible holiday-period terrorist threats against the US, Newsweek has learned. The briefing was centered on a written report, produced by US intelligence agencies, entitled "Key Homeland Threats", a senior US official said.

The senior Administration official, who asked for anonymity when discussing sensitive information, said that nowhere in this document was there any mention of Yemen, whose Al-Qaeda affiliate is now believed to have been behind the unsuccessful Christmas Day attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to bring down a transatlantic airliner with a bomb hidden in his underpants. However, the official declined to disclose any other information about the substance of the briefing, including what kind of specific warnings, if any, the President was given about possibly holiday attacks and whether Yemen came up during oral discussions.

According to the senior official, the holiday threat briefing, one in a series of regularly-scheduled sessions with top counter-terrorism officials, was held in the White House Situation Room on December 22. Present were representatives of agencies involved in counter-terrorism policy and operations, including Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and FBI Director Robert Mueller. The CIA and National Intelligence Directors Office were represented by deputy agency heads: CIA deputy director Steven Kappes, and David Gompert, the principal deputy to National Intelligence Czar Dennis Blair. Also present was Michael Leiter, director of the National Counter-terrorism Center, a unit of the Intelligence Czar's office which was created after 9/11 to ensure that intelligence reporting about possible terrorist plots was shared quickly among all US agencies who might have some capability to do something about it.
...
http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/declassified/archive/2010/01/01/exclusive-obama-got-pre-christmas-intelligence-briefing-about-terror-threats-to-homeland.aspx



Offline RightCoast

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3438
  • Reputation: +185/-24
  • Semper Fi means more than most will ever know
I'd be pissed if he didn't get those types of briefings, the fact that one was held holds no special significance IMO.
nine eleven is a car
nine one one is an emergency service
September 11, 2001 was an attack
Never Forget, or Minimize.

Offline Carl

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 19740
  • Reputation: +1489/-100
I'd be pissed if he didn't get those types of briefings, the fact that one was held holds no special significance IMO.

I agree except to point out the stupidity that libs have for carrying on about a routine memo in the summer of 2001 as being evidence that President Bush could have prevented 9/11 or whatever other political attacks they have used it for.

Offline RightCoast

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3438
  • Reputation: +185/-24
  • Semper Fi means more than most will ever know
I agree except to point out the stupidity that libs have for carrying on about a routine memo in the summer of 2001 as being evidence that President Bush could have prevented 9/11 or whatever other political attacks they have used it for.

Lib stupidity should go without saying.
nine eleven is a car
nine one one is an emergency service
September 11, 2001 was an attack
Never Forget, or Minimize.

Offline SSG Snuggle Bunny

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 23048
  • Reputation: +2232/-269
  • Voted Rookie-of-the-Year, 3 years running
This is an inside leak. During these briefings there are maybe a half dozen people in the room. That means the leaker is arms-reach from Obama.

I seriously doubt anyone that close to a regime as insular as Obama's spoke without messianic blessing.

IOW: They're trying to get out ahead of this.

Mayhap this is Obama's version of the August 8 PDB.
According to the Bible, "know" means "yes."