Despite all of our watch lists, algorithms, chemical detection systems and psychological profiling, it seems that regular people are the most important tool in the fight to prevent another major terrorist attack.

The passengers who took note that something was wrong with suspected bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on the Christmas Day flight from Amsterdam to Detroit are just further proof that vigilance is the best tool. They knew they had everything to lose by not acting.

That said, vigilance from the general public is only one part of the equation. The government should use its tremendous resources to prevent individuals from walking on to planes with chemicals strapped to their bodies, especially when there were ample opportunities to stop someone like Abdulmutallab.

That's why the initial insistence from Obama administration officials that the security system is working fine is particularly disturbing. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said, "The system has worked really very, very smoothly over the course of the past several days." Later, White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs said that "in many ways, this system has worked."

Abdulmutallab's father had called the U.S. Embassy to voice concerns over his son, yet no action was taken. He was not put on a watch list nor subjected to additional searches before boarding a plane. Abdulmutallab purchased a ticket in cash and had only a small carry-on luggage.

And now comes the news that Britain blocked Abdulmutallab from renewing a student visa and placed him on a watch list to prevent him from entering the country.

Napolitano and the Obama administration, realizing how ignorant she sounded, reversed course on the 'Today' show.

"Our system did not work in this instance," Napolitano said. "No one is happy or satisfied with that. An extensive review is under way."This has an eerie resemblance to Sen. John McCain's pronouncement during the campaign that the fundamentals of our economy were sound even as the economy teetered on the brink of collapse. At least the Obama administration was smart enough to reverse course quickly; however, this is a bad time for such a minor league screw-up.

The fight begins next month to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the health care reform bill. Republicans are looking for something, anything really, to bludgeon the prospect of health care reform and shift the momentum leading up to the midterm elections.

That is not to say that Republican criticism, or criticism in general, isn't warranted. It is.

According to the New York Times:

Congressional leaders said the tip from Mr. Abdulmutallab's father, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, should have resulted in closer scrutiny of the suspect before he boarded the plane in Amsterdam. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the ranking minority member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said his visa should have been revoked or at least he should have been given a physical pat-down or a full-body scan."This individual should not have been missed," Ms. Collins said in an interview on Sunday. "Clearly, there should have been a red flag next to his name."

Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic argued that the Bush administration is a bigger failure than Napolitano, because they installed only 40 body imaging machines in airports across the country since the 9/11 attacks, which might have detected the chemicals the suspect smuggled on the plane.

Goldberg wrote:

The attacks of 9/11 took place more than eight years ago. For most of that period, it was the Bush Administration in charge. And what did the Bush Administration do about air security between 9/11 and the beginning of 2009, when they left office? Well..... the Bush Administration managed to equip 40 screening lanes -- 40, across the 50 states -- with body-imaging machines. In other words, there are better scapegoats out there than Janet Napolitano.

While that's true, officials from the Obama administration screwed up big time by trying to deny there was a problem. They should have moved first to do what they are doing now and find ways to prevent mistakes of this caliber from ever happening again.

Most people should realize by now that the government cannot prevent all terrorist attacks. But government, at a minimum, should be able to thwart attempts like this where all the warning signs were bathed in a bright red glow.

If the government does its job, the general public will do theirs.