Will the aftershocks of the terror report be felt in the White House?
President Obama’s national security advisor, retired Gen. Jim Jones, has warned that the initial report on the mistakes made by the administration in the run-up to the Christmas Day terrorist incident will “shock” Americans. Frankly, given the amount of dramatic rhetoric already floating in the public commentary on the issue, it is a bit shocking ...
President Obama’s national security advisor, retired Gen. Jim Jones, has warned that the initial report on the mistakes made by the administration in the run-up to the Christmas Day terrorist incident will “shock” Americans. Frankly, given the amount of dramatic rhetoric already floating in the public commentary on the issue, it is a bit shocking that the Obama team’s rollout would be itself so alarmist. If they think the American people are going to be shocked at the missteps made on their watch, then the missteps must be quite egregious, indeed.
President Obama’s national security advisor, retired Gen. Jim Jones, has warned that the initial report on the mistakes made by the administration in the run-up to the Christmas Day terrorist incident will “shock” Americans. Frankly, given the amount of dramatic rhetoric already floating in the public commentary on the issue, it is a bit shocking that the Obama team’s rollout would be itself so alarmist. If they think the American people are going to be shocked at the missteps made on their watch, then the missteps must be quite egregious, indeed.
President Obama signaled that himself on Tuesday when he gave public remarks to denounce finger pointing and then used that opportunity to point the finger so squarely at one segment of the intelligence community: the analysts. He exonerated other parts of the homeland security complex, explicitly the intelligence collectors and implicitly the point-defenders like low-level Transportation Security Agency officers, and laid the blame at the analysts and intelligence integrators whose job it is to take the disparate pieces of information of the jig-saw puzzle and put them together. Without naming the agency, he put the National Counterterrorism Center, the new entity formed after 9/11 to do precisely this function, squarely in his crosshairs.
Until the report (to be released today) has been fully dissected and cross-examined, it is impossible to say whether President Obama is pointing his finger at the right culprit. Of all the parts of the complex system and of all of the post-9/11 reforms, I would have considered the NCTC to be one of the better functioning. From a purely political point of view, it would be in the Obama team’s interest to have the locus of the problem identified at this level, which is primarily run by permanent civil service professionals rather than higher up at a level dominated by political appointees. However, just because it would be in their political interests for something to be so does not mean they are wrong or spinning when they claim it is so.
If the facts in the report back up the accusation leveled by President Obama, then the shock of the report may well be short-lived because, as General Jones indicated, the fixes required may only be “tweaks.” But if the failures at lower levels can be traced to decisions, actions, and paradigms promoted at higher levels, the shock may linger, and the aftershocks will be felt in the White House.
Peter D. Feaver is a professor of political science and public policy at Duke University, where he directs the Program in American Grand Strategy.
More from Foreign Policy
Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?
The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.
Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World
It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.
It’s a New Great Game. Again.
Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.
Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing
The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.
Sign up for Morning Brief
Foreign Policy’s flagship daily newsletter with what’s coming up around the world today. Delivered weekdays.
By submitting your email, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to receive email correspondence from us. You may opt out at any time.
