Obama to Release Report on Terror Attempt Thursday
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Wednesday afternoon that the unclassified version of a "comprehensive" preliminary White House review of the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day will be released Thursday.
According to Gibbs, President Obama will make remarks in conjunction with the release of the review. He expected the release and comments in the early afternoon.
Officials are engaged in separate reviews of passenger screening procedures and the use of terror watch lists. The review to be released tomorrow largely relates to the watch lists, and was prepared by counterterrorism and homeland security adviser John Brennan.
Both Brennan and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will likely discuss their review at the White House tomorrow, Gibbs said. Napolitano's review has focused largely on detection capabilities and screening.
Following a meeting with top officials Tuesday, the president said that the reviews continue to "reveal more about the human and systemic failures that almost cost nearly 300 lives."
Officials have already updated government watch lists in the wake of the attack. The president says the system "is not broken" but lamented in comments Tuesday that 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the alleged bomber, was able to board the airplane despite numerous red flags being raised about him.
He said intelligence agencies knew enough to disrupt the terror attempt but failed to connect the dots to do so.
Gibbs said Wednesday that Mr. Obama will continue to examine and evaluate the security situation in the coming months.
Sources: CBS News
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