Administration Knew Of Tactic Used In Airliner Attack Since October

The Obama administration official who declared there was "no smoking gun" that could have alerted authorities about an al-Qaida plot to bring down a U.S. airliner over Detroit had received a personal, high-level briefing in October warning of a new al-Qaida tactic of hiding a bomb in an attacker's underwear.

On Fox News Sunday, John Brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security, told host Chris Wallace, "There was no smoking gun. There was no piece of intelligence that said, 'This guy's a terrorist. He's going to get on a plane.' No, not whatsoever."

Despite Brennan's contention that no smoking gun preceded the attack, Newsweek reported that Brennan received a personal briefing in October from Muhammad bin Nayef, the Saudi Prince who narrowly survived an al-Qaida assassination attempt in August. Nayef was wounded in the explosion, which used the same technique, and the same PETN explosive material, that authorities say Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab employed to try to bring down a Northwest airliner on Christmas Day.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for both attacks.

An intelligence source told Newsweek bin Nayef personally briefed Brennan because "he didn't think [U.S. officials] were paying enough attention" to the growing al-Qaida threat in Yemen, Newsweek reported.

More here..