In explaining why President Obama didn't call the Boston bombings a "terrorist attack," former adviser David Axelrod said, "I'm sure what was going through the president's mind is -- we really don't know who did this -- it was tax day":
"The word has taken on a different meaning since 9/11," Axelrod said of the phrase "terrorist attack."
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said today that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab provided "usable, actionable" intelligence upon his capture on Christmas Day.
If Gibbs is telling the truth, why did the president, three days after the attack, call it the work of an "isolated extremist?"