In his effort to politicize yesterday’s failed attempted terrorist attack, Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) suggested the Obama administration has thus far failed to “connect the dots.” In a tweet last night, Hoekstra seemed to say that the Obama administration hasn’t paid enough attention to Yemen:

The suspect — 23 year old Nigerian Abdul Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab — claimed to be given orders from al Qaeda in Yemen and was given an explosive device by Yemeni operatives. Hoekstra is woefully uninformed if he thinks the Obama administration hasn’t “connected the dots” to Yemen.

Yemeni security forces carried out airstrikes and ground raids against suspected al Qaeda hide-outs over the past two weeks “with what American officials described as ‘intelligence and firepower’ supplied by the United States. The assaults were Yemen’s widest offensive against jihadists in years.” President Obama reportedly personally approved the use of “military hardware, intelligence and other support to Yemeni forces” in their assault on al Qaeda.

Moreover, both Obama and his homeland security adviser, John Brennan, have cited Yemen as a key concern. After a terrorist attack on the U.S. Embassy in Yemen last September, Obama said:

OBAMA: We must do more to strengthen the military, police, and intelligence capability in nations like Yemen that are on the front lines in the fight against terrorism.  We need a Shared Security Partnership Program to build the infrastructure to deliver effective counter-terrorism training, and to create a strong foundation for coordinated action against Al Qaeda and its affiliates. [9/17/09]

In his speech on the Afghanistan surge to West Point cadets earlier this month, Obama highlighted Yemen again:

OBAMA: We will have to be nimble and precise in our use of military power. Where al Qaeda and its allies attempt to establish a foothold — whether in Somalia or Yemen or elsewhere — they must be confronted by growing pressure and strong partnerships. [12/1/09]

Similarly, Brennan noted Yemen in August as a place from which the terrorist threat is emanating:

BRENNAN: Even as the President takes a more focused view of the threat, his approach includes a third element: a broader, more accurate understanding of the causes and conditions that help fuel violent extremism, be they in Pakistan and Afghanistan or Somalia and Yemen. [8/6/09]

Despite Hoekstra’s desire to make a political issue of the terrorist attack, the evidence is clear that the terrorist threat emanating from Yemen has been a focal point for the Obama administration.

Yesterday, the White House announced that there had been “an attempted act of terrorism” aboard a trans-Atlantic Northwest Airlines flight arriving from Amsterdam as it was preparing to land in Detroit. The suspect — identified as a 23-year old Nigerian man named Abdul Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab — “certainly thought he was trying to take down the plane,” according to a White House official. 

The suspect reportedly had explosive powder taped to his leg and tried to light it on fire. He told investigators he was given the device by al Qaeda operatives in Yemen. “This guy claims he is tied to al Qaeda, specifically in Yemen,” the official said. “He claims he was on orders from al Qaeda in Yemen. Who knows if that’s true?”

Two passengers aboard the plane noticed the attempted attack, and “a third person jumped on the man and subdued him, an airline official told NBC News.” Flight attendants ran to get the fire extinguisher and the fire was soon doused. One passenger, Syed Jafry, remarked, “It was the time to be proud to be an American for sure.”

Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), the ranking member on the House intelligence committee and current candidate for governor of Michigan, saw an opportunity to score quick political points:

“It’s not surprising,” U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, a Holland Republican, said of the alleged terrorist attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight in Detroit. … “People have got to start connecting the dots here and maybe this is the thing that will connect the dots for the Obama administration,” Hoekstra said. [...]

Hoekstra hadn’t yet been briefed on the incident but said he is already calling or the Obama administration to meet with Intelligence Committee members to fully inform them about the alleged terrorism attempt at the Detroit airport.

In an effort to try to prove his case for why the Obama administration is failing to “connect the dots,” Hoekstra issued this condemnatory tweet last night:

While Hoekstra hadn’t been briefed, his colleague Rep. Peter King (R-NY) was. And King — the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee — wasted no time alerting the media to much of what he was told. King rushed to Fox and CNN last night to begin issuing blame against security officials who allowed the suspect to board. “His name was in a database indicating significant terrorist connections,” King said, adding, “I’m not trying to be a Monday morning quarterback here…but let’s see what was missed.”

The Obama administration announced that “additional security measures are being taken in response to the incident, without raising the airline threat level.”