Christmas Day Attack a Wake-Up Call for Obama

(CBS/ AP)

President Obama has dealt with a number of shocks in his first year in office, including the meltdown of the economy, the massacre at Fort Hood and ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But as his second year in office nears, the specter of 9/11 and terrorist acts against American people on American soil brings an entire new level of anxiety and fear to the country and his office.

Mr. Obama has avoided the Bush era phrase, "war on terror," focusing specifically on destroying al Qaeda, but terror is a feeling that bubbles up when a fumbling al Qaeda operative tries to blow up a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas day and evidence surfaces of a more wide-ranging attacks planned by al Qaeda operatives in Yemen.

Special Report: The Christmas Day Terror Attack

Mr. Obama has been criticized for not being more emotional and visibly angered by the attacks and failure by U.S. Intelligence agencies to connect the dots. It's not his style to hyperventilate, but to methodically gather data and come up with the best scenario for going forward -- in many cases the least worst scenario.

"Where Bush favored swagger, Obama is searching for a more supple blend of force and intellect," wrote Peter Baker in the New York Times.

In the instance of the Christmas day bombing attempt, data about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's activities was gathered but the dots weren't connected.

In his Saturday radio address, Mr. Obama tried to reassure the nation that the government is doing everything in its power to keep American's safe, saying 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," and that he has "set a clear and achievable mission-to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda and its extremist allies and prevent their return to either country."

He also called on the American people to "debate the best way to protect the country we all love," in his radio address.

A national debate on how to protect America is a typical Obama gesture, but what this data-driven president really wants is to connect the dots. As new data meets old data, patterns reveal themselves that can be turned into action.

"It's going to be very Obamaesque--very cerebral, very intensive. And I'm sure he will be criticized again for being kind of Spock-like rather than emotional," Reid added.

John Brennan, a former CIA officer and now assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, maintained that there was no smoking gun or piece of intelligence that Abdulmutallab was about to board a plane with about 80 grams of PETN in his underpants.

All the information from the pool of millions of bits of data in the system was shared, Brennan said. "In this one instance, the system didn't work. There were some human errors. There were some lapses. We need to strengthen it. But day in and day out, the successes are there," he said on "Fox News Sunday."

Brennan's no smoking gun claim depends on how you define "smoking gun." Preventing Abdulmutallab from boarding Northwest Flight 253 clearly wasn't a needle in a haystack problem. Sufficient data and connections were in the system to detect and disrupt Abdulmutallab's movements. Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) attributed the "lapse" to a lack of communication between the State Department, the intelligence community and Department of Homeland Security.

Starting January 21, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence will conduct hearings on the attempted Christmas Day attack and review national security policies on sharing information and terrorist watch lists. A call for systemic improvements in data gathering and analysis to predict and preventing terrorist attacks isn't news to the Obama administration. The current intelligence gathering system is mired in complex technical issues and cultural barriers persist that impede information sharing. A March 2009 Markle Task Force report, Nation At Risk: Policy Makers Need Better Information to Protect the Country, outlines steps needed to better protect the U.S. against terrorist attacks.

The report found that the stovepiping of information still exists within intelligence agencies. "The adoption of the 'need to share' principle and the responsibility to provide information, and actions to transform the culture through metrics and incentives, are necessary to the success of the information sharing Framework," the report stated. In addition, enhanced privacy and security policies are needed to assure that the information can be shared appropriately among the public and government officials.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Mr. Obama now carries the life and death burden fully on his shoulders. In his nuanced Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, the president said, "The capacity of human beings to think up new ways to kill one another proved inexhaustible, as did our capacity to exempt from mercy those who look different or pray to a different God."

For Mr. Obama, a focus on data and a methodical and sometimes plodding analysis -- connecting the dots -- has been his weapon of choice and armor. It's also a way to maintain distance, to see the forest for the trees, and not be emotionally overwhelmed or paralyzed by the unsavory choices that confront him.

Data is his friend, but America may not dodge the next Abdulmutallab unless significant progress is made in how intelligence information is gathered, shared, analyzed and protected.

More coverage from CBSNews.com:

Travelers to U.S. Face Heightened Security
TSA Shuts Down Terminal After Breach
Schumer: Airlines Must be Firm on Security
Studying Arabic a Cover for Abdulmutallab?
U.S. Born Cleric Key Player in Bomb Plot?
Official: We Knew Al Qaeda Planned "Christmas Surprise"
U.S. Intel Lapses Helped Abdulmutallab