Washington (CNN) -- Human error and system lapses, rather than deliberate concealing of information, allowed a terror suspect with explosives to board a U.S.-bound airplane on Christmas Day, President Obama's terrorism czar said Sunday. John Brennan, the assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, said on CNN's "State of the Union" that the security breakdown in the failed bombing of the Northwest Airlines flight was different from the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. "It's not like 9/11," Brennan said, adding that the "system didn't work as it should have" due to "lapses" and "human error." "There wasn't an effort to try to conceal information," he said, referring to the well-chronicled competition and turf wars among security agencies prior to the 2001 attacks, which was later blamed for the failure to prevent them.
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John Brennan: "System didn't work as it should have" due to "lapses" and "human error"
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Suspect's cash payment for airfare "wasn't a necessary [warning] bell," says Brennan
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Thomas Kean of 9/11 panel says Brennan "wrong when he says this wasn't like 9/11"
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CNN iReport: Tell us about your airport security experiences
"The directive also increases the use of enhanced screening technologies and mandates threat-based and random screening for passengers on @placeholder bound international flights."