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Hoekstra doubles down on criticism of Obama on airline attack
Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) said Sunday that it is fair to blame the Obama administration for the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight bound for Detroit on Christmas Day.
Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Select Intelligence Committee said that the administration has not taken the threat of terrorist threats on the U.S. seriously.
Hoekstra said that increased domestic threats have made themselves more evidence this year, with this attack and the Fort Hood shootings, but said that the Obama administration is trying to "downplay" the threat.
"The Obama administration came in and said we're not going to use the word terrorism anymore, we're going to call it man made disasters, trying to, I think, downplay the threat from terrorism," he said. "In reality, it's getting much more complex."
Hoekstra on Friday said that the White House needs to "connect the dots" that the attacks are an indication that al Qaeda is beginning to plan more widespread attacks on the United States.
Early on U.S. official identified the attack as an act of terrorism but said that the alleged attacker, Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, appeared to have acted alone. Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) called him "self-radicalized" but that he may have reached out to Al Qaeda elements in Yemen.
Homeland Security Secretary Janey Napolitano said Sunday, however, that the U.S. does not yet know if he was a member of al Qaeda.
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a frequent critic of the Obama administration, echoed Hoekstra's complaints about the White House's handling of national security issues.
DeMint called the unionization of airport security workers the "the top priority now of the administration" and said that closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba will not "appease" extremist groups.
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) also said that "This is a jolt for us. This is a wake up call."
He said that the U.S. needs to improve sharing of information between State Department and law enforcement who track terrorists.
"This war is going to go on for 50 years," he said. "We had better wake up."
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