John O. Brennan appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday.

Brennan is assistant for national security to President Obama.

He explained the reasons why a bomber who nearly blew up Northwest Flight 253 at Detroit had slipped through security.

Brennan also served President Bush.

David Gregory, host of Meet the Press, asked questions, took answers and did not press Mr. Brennan.

On CNN later, Gloria Borger interviewed Brennan, took his answers and questioned him further.

Her dissatisfaction with his answers was obvious.

Gov. Thomas Kean, co-chair of the 9-11 Commission, questioned Brennan’s attitude on the same program and called into question the effectiveness of the procedures set forth by the advisor and national security.

On MSNBC’s Hardball, Chris Matthews, a speechwriter for President Carter, praised Brennan, viewing his interview on Meet the Press through tinted glasses.

As a former prosecuting attorney and defense attorney, I was completely dissatisfied.
To properly present a case, a trial attorney must look at even his own witnesses with the same jaundiced eye as the opposing lawyer will view them.

If he does not, cross-examination can defeat the strongest set of facts.

The facts are: The father of the attempted bomber of the Northwest flight to Detroit, a prominent Nigerian banker, had contacted his government, gone on their instructions to the US Embassy in Nigeria and reported that his son had radicalized and extremist views.
It turns out he was in Yemen.

Brennan said that the report had not contained a “smoking gun.”

He indicated that nothing else raised a question.

“We have hundreds of tips at embassies every day.”  “There were disparate sets of facts.”
In other words, no one connected the dots.

If  Brennan waits for a smoking gun from terrorists, he will have his head blown off.
Any policeman knows that every lead must be followed and investigated.

If we do not have enough personnel to do so, we should go to Congress and make sure we have enough.

Nothing can be spared to root out terrorists and their threats.

Further, earlier another underwear bomber breached Saudi Arabian security and blew himself up, barely missing the Saudi Arabian chief of anti-terrorism.

Brennan said he had been to Saudi Arabia, seen the bombed site and talked to the princely terrorism chief.

“Nothing connected that incident to the bombing of a plane.”

The 9-11 Commission pointed out that we had enough information to prevent the bombing of the World Trade Center if we had connected the dots.

It takes no imagination to know a bomb used one place could be used at another, including an aircraft.

Brennan worked for Bush in national security and he now works for Obama. He is a bureaucrat who does his job. Period. That is not enough.

We need someone with ingenuity and enterprise to watch out for our security.
Brennan has had his chance.

Will he get it right next time around?

We cannot take chances with national security.

Herbert E. Phillipson Jr. lives in Dowagiac.