Obama Reluctantly Connects Al Qaeda to Terror Plot

In his weekly Internet and radio address, the president said Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula "trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for America."

In his most direct public language to date, the president described the path through Yemen of 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian accused of trying to destroy Northwest Flight 253. The president also emphasized that the United States would continue its partnerships with friendly countries -- citing Yemen, in particular -- to fight terrorists and extremist groups around the globe.

After days of refusing to connect Umar with a larger terrorist network the president today announced that connection. This is no longer the isolated attack of just a few days ago. The information has been there all the time so why did Obama finally admit what we all knew long ago. The answer, as I see it is simple, he came to realize that the information was coming out no matter how determined he was to keep it from the American people. This secret could not be kept.

Obama's homeland security team has been piecing together just how Abdulmutallab was able to board the plane. Officials have described flaws in the system and by those executing the strategy and have delivered a preliminary assessment.

A senior administration official had said the United States was increasingly confident there was a link between Abdulmutallab and an Al Qaeda affiliate, but Obama's statement is the strongest connection between the two.

"We're learning more about the suspect," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address that the White House released on Saturday as the president vacationed in Hawaii.

"We know that he traveled to Yemen, a country grappling with crushing poverty and deadly insurgencies. It appears that he joined an affiliate of Al Qaeda, and that this group -- Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula -- trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for America," the president said.

Obama and those in the administration still continue to tie the terrorist to poverty and will not face the reality that's it Islam and not poverty that motivates these radicals. This will continue in this belief and nothing will move them from it. Their political correctness and multiculturalism will allow them to see any other cause.

There is little doubt that heads will roll and the blame put on this agency or that. But in the end the Obama administration will not point the finger at itself, at the one person where the buck stops. Obama will never admit that his political correctness stance has made many in the security agencies hesitant to step forward with vital information for fear they may lose their jobs and be label Islamic homophobes. This is the root of the problem and Barack and those close to him will never recognize this and look to place blame elsewhere.

Officials have said Abdulmutallab's father warned the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria that his son had drifted into extremism in the Al Qaeda hotbed of Yemen. Abdulmutallab's threat was only partially digested by the U.S. security apparatus and not linked with a visa history showing the young man could fly to the United States. read more from FOX News