Nearly 300 passengers and crew members of Northwest Airlines flight 253 came within a heartbeat of being incinerated on Christmas Day because 23-year-old Nigerian Jihadist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab somehow smuggled explosives past sophisticated anti-terrorist security measures in Europe. That the passengers and crew members survived is because of Jasper Schuringa, a brave man from Amsterdam who prevented Abdulmutallab from detonating a bomb sewn into his underwear. The device was made of pentaerythritol tetranitrate, an explosive that has been around since before World War I. Three more factors in this near-tragedy deserve particular attention:

First, President Obama should demand the resignation of Secretary Janet Napolitano and fire her if she refuses to resign. It is clear from her comment that “the system worked” that Napolitano lacks the first clue about what is required to ensure safe commercial airline travel in an era defined by the war on terrorism. The system failed because an individual with known terrorist links successfully smuggled explosives on board a loaded commercial jet bound for the U.S. He did so by defeating screening measures in Amsterdam that mirror those used elsewhere in Europe and across the U.S.