President Obama told the advisers he met with today that the Flight 253 incident “was a screw up that could have been disastrous.”
An administration official told TPMDC that Obama expressed his frustration in the Situation Room meeting with key Cabinet members who briefed him on the ongoing review into the Christmas day attempted terror attack.
“We dodged a bullet but just barely,” Obama said, according to the official.
“It was averted by brave individuals not because the system worked and that is not acceptable,” Obama said. “While there will be a tendency for finger pointing, I will not tolerate it.”
The official said there wasn’t any “finger pointing” in the meeting, and that each agency or department leader “took responsibility for failures at their respective organizations.”
Obama also told the press in a brief statement the system had failed and outlined the steps the government already has taken to make the nation safer.
The official said the final results of the review will “reinforce and provide even greater clarity for the plans the agencies have put in place.”
