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Eric Holder: Lessons Learned from Faisal Shahzad Capture

AP

During an appearance before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, Attorney General Eric Holder was asked by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) whether he was satisfied with the "takedown" of Faisal Shahzad, the alleged Times Square bomber.

He said he was not satisfied despite what he called the success of the operation, which took about 53 hours to apprehend the suspect.

"Just because we were successful doesn't mean we don't have to be vigilant....there will be other attempts," Holder said.

He suggested that changing the time period airlines are required to look at the no-fly list from 24 hours to 2 hours, which was mandated on Wednesday as a result of the Times Square incident, could have made it possible for Shahzad to be apprehended before he was seat on Emirates flight 202.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) compared the watch lists, such as the no-fly list, to "chalk on a blackboard," citing the flaws in the system that allowed Shahzad to board the flight to Dubai. She called for President Obama to nominate a head of Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which manages airport security, that the Senate can confirm (two previous picks have later withdrawn).

"The TSA needs permanent, vigorous leadership," she said.

Murkowski asked about Holder why the red flags -- a one-way ticket for cash, no luggage -- didn't elicit more immediate law enforcement actions, and whether allowing Shahzad to board a plane represented risks to passenger safety.

"As I said, we have to look at the successes of the operation and determine how we can do it better next time.... With the screening he went through, there was not a danger on the plane," Holder said. "Looking back, we have already noticed things we need to calibrate in a different way, and those changes are already being implemented."

Mikulski asked the attorney general why federal agencies, including the TSA and border patrol, were not put on "red alert." Information about Shahzad was shared many hours before he got to the airport, and as a result of the notifications, he was apprehended before he left the country, Holder told the committee.

"As I said at the press conference, I was never worried that we would not apprehend him," he said.

The committee did not ask Holder about government agencies losing track of Shahzad as he drove in his car with a loaded gun from his apartment in Connecticut to Kennedy Airport.

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Daniel Farber is editor-in-chief of CBSNews.com. You can read more of his posts in Hotsheet here. You can also follow him on Twitter.
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