A Q&A With Janet Napolitano

Since Christmas Day, Secretary Janet Napolitano has been harshly criticized for the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) handling of the bombing plot by 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, particularly her comments—later clarified—that the "system worked." She spoke with NEWSWEEK's Jerry Guo and Mark Hosenball last week to explain the department's response and plans moving forward.

You were at a White House briefing on Dec. 22 to discuss holiday threats. Was Yemen discussed?
I don't want to get into what was discussed at a meeting with the president. I will say we talked in general about threats that always seem to arise around the holidays and measures that were taken.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) didn't check the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE) database until the Detroit-bound flight was already in the air, leading to an instruction that Abdulmutallab be subjected to extra screening when he landed. Why didn't CBP check TIDE before takeoff?
The key fact is his name was not put on the terrorist watch list or no-fly list. That entire process, which has been utilized for several years, is part of the review that we are undergoing in light of what happened on Christmas. Changes are being made in some of these processes. Another set of actions we have undertaken is to deploy our deputy secretary around the globe to meet foreign governments to look at how we improve information collection and sharing, how we increase the use of enhanced technology, and how we raise the international standards for aviation.

Since the Transportation Security Administration doesn't have over-sight of airports abroad, isn't U.S. security at the whim of foreign governments?
International governments control the screening at their own airports. We also rely on them for information sharing. The deputy secretary has reported back to me that she has had excellent meetings in the past nine days. I will be going to Spain next week to meet European ministers to discuss this issue. Look, we are going to work to make sure the international air environment is safe. Countries around the world share this view. There were passengers from many countries on this flight, not just the United States.

Can you cite how many attacks have been disrupted by security measures like body scanners, behavioral analysis, and liquid limits?
No. It is very difficult to put a number on a deterrent. We have to have random actions and do different things in different places. That is part of how we ensure safety. There needs to be different layers of security at airports around the world and better information sharing of those that have last points of departure to the United States. We're not going to telegraph everything we're doing. We obviously have learned from Christmas—what happened there and needs to happen. That's the work the president has directed be done.

Is there any evidence Abdulmutallab was part of a bigger plot?
This is an ongoing investigation that we continue to work on with our international partners. We know Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula want to do us harm, and they are looking for ways to accomplish that.

Will the DHS advocate for tightening visa procedures?
That's one thing we are reviewing in conjunction with the State Department.

So can you put a probability on another terrorist attempt in the next year?
No—in some respects that's not the right question. Are we and do we continue to do everything we can not only to react but to proactively think ahead to protect the traveling public? Absolutely.