Slade Gorton: Obama needs to act more urgently
"I don't think there's been enough urgency expressed by the Obama administration itself," said Gorton, a member of the 9/11 Commission. "It's refused to say that we're in a war, which we are against a form of Islamic extremism that manifests itself in the form of terrorism."
Gorton criticized the failure among U.S. intelligence agencies to share information that could have prevented Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab from being allowed to board a plane bound for Detroit with explosives sewn into his underwear.
Abdulmutallab is now in custody after his homemade bomb and ignition device allegedly failed to explode.
The 23-year-old Nigerian man was known to multiple U.S. government agencies, but apparently none of those agencies shared what was known about Abdulmutallab in time.
Gorton said after the 9/11 Commission issued its report in 2004, a large number of the recommendations were adopted and structural changes were made to intelligence services.
"The problem in this case is that while the recommendations were adopted formally, they don't seem to have been carried out in the actual way in which intelligence is shared," he said.
The former Republican Senator from Washington state said he doesn't blame bad intentions by agency staff.
"I think its just the sand in the gears of the bureaucracy," Gorton said.
But he added he's upset that five years and two presidential administrations later, people haven't seen more results.
"I am very surprised that we are having this conversation right now," he said.
Gorton had another criticism beyond bungled intelligence sharing. He doesn't think terror suspects should be treated as criminal matters in civilian courts.
"Remember there was an attempt to blow up the World Trade Center several years before 9/11 itself, and we caught the people. We tried them. We put them in jail. Then we got 9/11 as a result," he said.
While Gorton was quick to point out the failure to share intel predates the current president, he does believe this administration needs to set a better example from the top down.
"We even had our secretary of homeland security, right after this incident was over, say that the system worked the way that it ought to work. That kind of attitude at the top is not going to lead to a sense of urgency among the people who work in the field," he said.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney was quoted earlier this week criticizing the Obama administration over its terror fighting policies. Critics quickly charged Cheney was playing politics with national security.
Gorton believes criticism - even political criticism - should lead to better policies.
"This could be a very very significant wake up call. I hope it is," he said.