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Welcome once again to our Monday Morning News Kick Off post on got geoint? We hope that the cold weather is not bringing you down. Remember Winter is only a temporary thing and Spring will be here before you know it. Once again the news cycle is dominated by the fallout surrounding both the Christmas day bombing attempt and the attack in Afghanistan that killed seven CIA employees. On area that we shine a light on is CIA Director Leon Panetta firing back at critics saying that no one “ignored the hazards” in a letter in the Washington Post. So, as we always say, fire up that second cup of coffee and read on.

As Victims Are Mourned, Panetta Says CIA Was About to Search Attacker
The suicide bomber who killed seven CIA employees was about to be searched, the director of the spy agency revealed today as he returned fire at his critics. “No one ignored the hazards,” Leon Panetta wrote in a letter published in the Washington Post, responding to those who questioned CIA tactics in eastern Afghanistan on a weekend during which some of the dead officers were laid to rest. The revelations come hours after a tape was released in which the suicide bomber and double agent, Dr. Human Khalil al-Balawi, said he was motivated by revenge against the United States. Read the full ABC News article here.

Ex-CIA Official to Lead Inquiry Into Plane Incident
The Obama administration’s top intelligence official has appointed a retired CIA analyst to head an internal investigation of the failures that led to the Dec. 25 attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner. John E. McLaughlin, a former deputy CIA director, will lead a review of missteps by U.S. intelligence agencies and assess proposals for correcting weaknesses in a system that did not respond to warnings about terrorism suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, said Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair. Read the full Washington post story here.

Suicide Blast Has Some Questioning Trust Placed in Informant Invited to CIA Base in Afghanistan
The Jordanian doctor arrived in a red station wagon that came directly from Pakistan and sped through checkpoints at a CIA base in Afghanistan before stopping at an improvised interrogation center. Outside stood one of the CIA’s top experts on al-Qaeda, ready to greet the doctor and hear him describe a way to kill Ayman al-Zawahri, the organization’s No. 2 man. The Jordanian exited the car with one hand in his pocket, according to the accounts of several U.S. officials. A U.S. security guard approached him to conduct a pat-down search and asked him to remove his hand. Instead, the Jordanian triggered a switch. Read the full Dallas Morning News story here.

Key Congressman Questions Watchlist Technology
In his review of the Northwest Flight 253 bomb attempt, President Obama acknowledged that the U.S. intelligence community failed to collect and share data that could have potentially uncovered and disrupted the plot. The review didn’t attribute the failure to connect the dots to barriers in information sharing among agencies and departments, as was the case at the time of 9/11. The president didn’t assign blame to particular individuals or agencies. Check out the full CBS News article here.

Tags: CIA, CIA bombing, CIA bombing in Afghanistan, former CIA Director, GEOINT, Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, John E. McLaughlin, Pakistani, Panetta, Taliban, Terrorism, USGIF