Senators: Punish US officials over airline plot

As the Obama administration begins to address the failings behind the Christmas Day airliner attack, two senators said Sunday the US needs to punish officials, correct security lapses and limit opportunities to join jihad overseas.

Senators Joe Lieberman and John McCain took issue with President Barack Obama's suggestion that no one would lose his or her job over the incident. Neither called specifically for someone to be fired, and they did not name who should be disciplined.

Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, pointed to breakdowns at the State Department and the National Counterterrorism Center, where he said people failed to act to identify as a threat the suspected bomber, a young Nigerian, and revoke his visa.

"At the National Counterterrorism Center, something went wrong," said Lieberman, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. "So if human errors were made, I think some of the humans who made those errors have to be disciplined so that they never happen again."

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, is accused of igniting an explosive mixture aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 as it prepared to land in Detroit. Officials received fragments of information as early as October about an alleged terror recruit they later learned was Abdulmutallab.

Asked whether Obama should fire Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, National Counterterrorism Center head Michael Leiter or presidential counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, Sen. Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican, said the advisers reflect the sentiments of the president.

Lieberman (R) and McCain in Israel Sunday (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

"I think the president was right when he said, 'The buck stops with me.' The problem is he can't be fired right now," Kyl said. "So what he's got to do is provide a sense of urgency with these people who work for him."

Other lawmakers said the US should be more careful about releasing detainees held at the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to countries where al-Qaeda has a presence, including Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Last week Obama suspended the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to Yemen, home to nearly half of the 198 terror suspect detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. Obama has reiterated his vow to close the camp.

In other comments, McCain, an Arizona Republican, said Abdulmutallab should have been treated like an enemy combatant and should not be tried in a civilian court.

Lieberman and McCain spoke on CNN's "State of the Union," and Kyl appeared on "Fox News Sunday."