WASHINGTON — President Obama vowed yesterday that “justice will be done” in the case the failed Times Square car bombing.
The president said “hundreds of lives” may have been saved through quick action by ordinary citizens and local, state and federal authorities.
“We know that the aim of those who try to carry out” attacks like the one last weekend is to force Americans to live in fear, Obama said.
“As Americans and as a nation, we will not be terrorized. We will not cower in fear. We will not be intimidated,” he vowed.
“The American people can be assured that the FBI and their partners in this process have all the tools that they need to learn everything that we can, and that includes what, if any, ties this individual [suspect Faisal Shahzad] has to individual groups.”
Obama said the probe will seek to determine “what if any connection this individual has to terrorist groups and it includes collecting critical intelligence as we work to disrupt any future attacks.
“This incident is another sobering reminder of the times in which we live,” Obama said.
The president made his comments at the annual meeting of the Business Council.
Shahzad, a Pakistan-born US citizen, is suspected of driving a bomb-laden SUV into Times Square Saturday night and parking it on a street lined with restaurants and Broadway theaters.
Shahzad was taken into custody late Monday by FBI agents and NYPD detectives at Kennedy Airport after he had boarded a flight to Dubai.
Obama telephoned two police officers, Wayne Rhatigan and Pam Duffy, yesterday to thank them for their vigilance.
The officers were in Times Square Saturday night, and are credited with evacuating the area after the suspicious vehicle was spotted.
Obama also spoke yesterday with Lance Orton, a street vendor who first reported the vehicle. The president on Monday called another vendor who reported the vehicle, Duane Jackson.
The incident marked the second time in recent months in which terrorists evidently sought to wreak havoc in the United States.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is in custody on charges of trying to use a bomb hidden in his underwear to bring down a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day.