Posted on 02/08/2010 2:30:12 AM PST by Frankusa
The Obama administration has found a new angle to justify its decision to treat Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab like a civilian criminal: Richard Reid, the Shoe Bomber was tried in a civilian court during George W. Bush's presidency.
However, as Mike Sullivan - who prosecuted Richard Reid in federal court - noted in a recent interview with Fox News: Military tribunals had only been established a few weeks prior to the attempted shoe bombing incident. Sullivan expressed confidence that "had Mr. Reid's plane landed at Logan Airport in Dec. 2003, versus Dec. 2001, we would have had the discussion and made the determination as to whether or not holding Mr. Reid as an enemy combatant would have better served the country."
Sullivan conceded that additional intelligence information could have been gleaned from the Mr. Reid had he been detained in a civilian prison and he admitted that a lot of intelligence will likely be be lost as a result of Abdulmutallab's civilian detention.
Click here to watch the Fox News interview - Video
Sorry, the last line should have read, “Sullivan conceded that additional intelligence information could have been gleaned from the Mr. Reid had he been detained in a ‘MILITARY’ prison, not “CIVILIAN” prison. Too bad, I can’t edit that word.
Blame it on George Bush. Why not. They blame everything else on him.
Excuses are still excuses. There doesn’t seem to be any reasonable explanation for the incoherent way his administration is handling terror and terror suspects. The truth of the matter is that he hasn’t ever thought/planned it out appropriately and as a result, it looks like a real mess that is more politically motivated than it has anything to do with safety or justice. It’s not enough to just say that he doesn’t like the way Bush handled things. Changing it still requires a thoughtful approach with the help of congress, and it shouldn’t be changed until there’s a coherent and efective process in place.
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