Hard News: The Best Christmas Present Of All Was The One That Wasn't Received

Less than two weeks after the failed terrorist attack, a multitude of concerned citizens remain unaware of the causes and effects of this potentially deadly incident. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab boarded the Detroit bound airliner on Christmas Day, December 25th, with an assigned mission from al-Qaeda to detinate an explosive hidden in his underwear. The explosive device was not detonated properly, and instead set part of Abdulmutallab's pants and some of the plane on fire. Once it was clear what was happening, passengers and crew members acted with speedy determination to subdue the 23 year old, and extinguish the flames. The young suspect was quick to admit acquiring the explosives from al-Qaeda linked terrorists in Yemen. According to the FBI the explosive was created using PETN, or pentaerythritol, which was also used by the infamous shoe-bomber in December 2001. Abdulmutallab obtained a two year US visitors visa in June of 2008, and did not evoke any uncertainty when boarding the flight at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, known for being one of the most secure in the world.
The ability of the young man to be seated on a plane to the United States became controversial when authorities acknowledged Abdulmutallab's name appeared on Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, also known as TIDE.
TIDE's data contains over half a million names, of which only 4,000 are sent to the Transportation Security Authority to be placed on a no-fly list. Another 14,000 of those names are placed on a "selectee" list, which calls for more scrutiny when searching those individuals before they are allowed to board. Abdulmutallab's name remained only on the TIDE database, despite his father's, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, discussions with the US embassy in Abuja, Nigeria warning them of his concern over his son's increasingly radical religious beliefs.
Heavy controversy has begun on whether or not the current administration has been putting enough emphasis on anti-terrorism efforts. President Obama has stated publicly his disappointment with the handling of intelligence, "This was not a failure to collect intelligence. It was a failure to integrate and understand the intelligence that we already had... We have to do better, we will do better, and we have to do it quickly. American lives are on the line."
As a result of the attempted attack, airports across the globe are tightening their security measures. Extra baggage checks, increased police presence, bomb-sniffing dogs, and full body scans are among some of the more serious increased tactics. These measures are also causing great controversy on whether or not these are violations of privacy.

-Dave Theisen

Are we in for another administration blame game, are we not tightening up security measures enough, or way too much? Share your opinions below!