The U.S. were given early signals of the terrorist plot on Flight 253
President Barack Obama said Tuesday that there was a systemic failure on the part of U.S. security in regards to the would-be bomber of Flight 253. The government had been aware that Yemeni al-Qaeda members were talking about a terrorist attack involving “The Nigerian” but that information was not matched up with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who boarded a flight in Amerstdam on Christmas Day and tried to ignite explosives attached to his body as the plane was heading into Detroit—even though officials at the U.S. embassy in Nigeria had also been warned about Abdulmutallab by his own father. President Obama said he would insist on “accountability at every level.”