White House: Hey, We Told Counterterror Chief to Go Skiing

As if it wasn't embarrassing enough the Director of National Counterterrorism Center was away skiing after the attempted Christmas day plane bombing, the White House amazingly is now claiming they told him to go on vacation in the immediate aftermath before the full scope of what happened had even been determined.

The Obama White House rushed Thursday to defend a top counterterror official who went on a ski vacation for six days after an alleged Al Qaeda bomber attempted to blow up a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day.

Michael Leiter -- whose National Counterterrorism Center failed to connect dots on suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab -- came under fire for being away from his intelligence clearinghouse at the height of the crisis when it was still unknown if other terrorists were on their way to the U.S.

"Director Leiter was - throughout the events of Dec. 25, 2009 - indeed at the National Counterterrorism Center in McLean, Va., and intimately involved in all aspects of the nation's response to the attempted terrorist attack-to include coordinating intelligence, examining terrorist watchlisting, and briefing Members of Congress," Denis McDonough, National Security Council chief of staff, said in a statement.

McDonough said Leiter "took six days of annual leave after the event," and did so "only after explicit consultations with both the White House and the Director of National Intelligence," Dennis Blair.

It was obvious for days afterward Obama was the least bit concerned as he sunned himself and golfed for four days before even addressing the media. Oh, and do they think we forget the infamous "the system worked" comments of Janet Incompetano? Obviously they didn't understand the severity of what went down so why would they object if Leiter went on vacation?

So just for the record, it was the current White House, not George W. Bush, who approved Leiter hitting the slopes. The White House can claim all they want people were on top of the situation but that just isn't flying.

The ski trip "did not affect in any way his ability to remain engaged with all elements of the United States Government," McDonough also said.

But three career counterterrorism officials and others who spoke to The News saw it differently.

They noted Leiter's lack of leadership during the post-Christmas week, when his center was at the epicenter of assessing new threat intelligence in a fast-moving terrorism investigation.

This attempted mass murder occurred two weeks ago tomorrow. In that time the bumbling incompetence from Obama on down has been breathtaking. It would be amusing if lives weren't at stake. Yet when people criticize them (see Cheney, Dick) they unleash more anger and antipathy toward their critics than they do toward our enemies.

I said it 10 days ago and I shall repeat it: We need a 12/25 Commission to get to the bottom of things. Until then I have zero faith those in charge have the slightest clue what they're doing.