The president is not at all too happy about the events that transpired last Christmas Day – and who would be. The fact that the attempt to blow up Northwest Flight 253 was stopped just in time is not enough to allay the concerns of a nation. After the events of 9/11, the American people would naturally expect that such an occurrence would be prevented from happening altogether.

The surprising thing is that there are signs of 9/11 in this incident. A commercial aircraft was once again involved, and the lives of innocent civilians on the line. And perhaps most important is the fact that information about the suspect and his rather unusual activities and beliefs have been provided to U.S. intelligence by no less than the father of the suspect.

In his second statement since the foiled Christmas Day bombing attempt, the President had rather blunt words to say: “A systemic failure has occurred and I consider that totally unacceptable. We’ve achieved much since 9/11 in terms of collecting information that relates to terrorists and potential terrorist attacks, but it’s becoming clear that the system that has been in place for years now is not sufficiently up to date to take full advantage of the information we collect and the knowledge we have.”

According to U.S. officials, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s father, retired banker Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, reported his son’s apparent “radicalization” to the U.S. Embassy. Although he did not specifically say that his son had any intention of attacking Americans, he did ask for assistance in finding him and bringing him home.

A cable regarding the report was sent to Washington, but that only resulted in the addition of the young Abdulmutallab to the database of more than half a million people with suspected links to terrorism. He was, however, not included in the no-fly list or the list of people who will need to undergo more thorough screening before flying; nor was his multiple-entry visa that would allow him to travel to the United States revoked.