THERE’S LITTLE DOUBT that one reason behind the declining domestic popularity of U.S. President Barack Obama has been his political opponents’ portrayal of him as “soft on terrorism.”

If that indeed is the case, we wouldn’t be the slightest bit surprised to see his popularity soar in the wake of the failed Christmas Day bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 as it approached Detroit over Southwestern Ontario.

In a 12-minute speech delivered last Thursday, the President did not merely accept responsibility for the multiple security gaps that allowed a bombladen terrorist to get aboard the flight in Amsterdam with his oft-quoted, “the buck stops with me.” He also outlined several measures he has ordered aimed at preventing a recurrence.

While it has certainly become crystal clear that multiple security failures were involved, there is nothing that supports the assertion by Republicans, led by former vice-president Dick Cheney, that the Obama administration’s policies are making the United States less safe.

On the contrary, the President’s moves, accompanied by an abandonment of his predecessor’s “war on terror” in favour of the more-targeted “war on al-Qaida” should make all the Western world a lot safer than it was during the Bush administration.

The critics’ claim that the Christmas day incident shows the president’s weakness in dealing with terror is clearly unfounded. The President we saw bore no resemblance to a weak and naive leader who takes terrorism lightly, thinks that playing nicely with terrorists will make them stop, and fails to understand the threat the United States faces from violent extremists.

Mr. Cheney said the incident had made “clear once again that President Obama is trying to pretend we are not at war.”

The baselessness of such comments is amply demonstrated by both Mr. Obama’s words and his actions.

In accepting the Nobel Peace Prize – no doubt awarded partly in recognition of his conciliatory approaches to the Muslim world – the President acknowledged that evil “does exist in the world,” adding: “Negotiations cannot convince al-Qaida’s leaders to lay down their arms.” And in his inaugural address he made it clear that “our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred and ... we will do whatever it takes to defeat them and defend our country, even as we uphold the values that have always distinguished America among nations.”

His actions speak even louder, and demonstrate tenacity and pragmatism blended with a necessary reassessment of the flawed policies of his predecessors and a recommitment to the rule of law.

He wants to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, but he has delayed that goal until acceptable alternatives can be found. He has brought criminal charges against some terrorists, but has also sent others to be tried by military tribunals. He has also invoked the authority of the executive to have lawsuits dismissed because they risk exposing state secrets.

In addition to the new troop deployments to Afghanistan, he has aggressively used predator drones to strike at terrorists’ bases, including some outside Afghanistan. Even before the failed attack, his administration was working aggressively with Yemeni authorities to deal with the extremists there.

As we see it, his administration had little choice but to bring criminal charges against the would-be suicide bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and the only issue left is in the area of sanctions. (Should he be locked up forever, or given a modest prison sentence accompanied by intensive counselling aimed at convincing him that his actions and those of al-Qaida are not only unjustifiable but offensive to the Allah he worships?)

As we see it, just about everything Mr. Obama has done since Dec. 25 has already made air traffic safer, and the failed attempt to bring down Flight 253 may turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

One thing still not clear is how it was that Mr. Abdulmutallab managed to get a U.S. visa, without which he couldn’t have made it on the flight, when Britain had seen him as posing a sufficient risk to deny him one.

The Dec. 25 incident has already led Canada and most European nations to order full-body scanners for international airports that will be used at least for flights to the U.S. and likely will become a universal requirement, despite privacy concerns.

We suspect that as time passes some of the measures taken immediately after the incident, such as the ban on almost all carry-on luggage, will be abandoned as unnecessary.

And hopefully, all his administration’s actions to combat terrorism will fit within Mr. Obama’s stated objective of maintaining a free and open society.

As he said last Thursday, “Great and proud nations don’t hunker down and hide behind walls of suspicion and mistrust. That is exactly what our adversaries want, and so long as I am president we will never hand them that victory.”