Posted on 01/24/2010 7:47:33 PM PST by SeekAndFind
The Washington Post supported the Obama administration's treatment of Christmas day bomber Umar Abdulmuttalab as a criminal rather than as an enemy combatant. In an editorial published yesterday, It has nevertheless retracted its support. The Post writes that it "originally supported the administration's decision in the Abdulmutallab case, assuming that it had been made after due consideration. But the decision to try Mr. Abdulmutallab turns out to have resulted not from a deliberative process but as a knee-jerk default to a crime-and-punishment model."
The Obama administration's treatment of Abdulmutallab as a criminal accorded the constitutional rights of an American citizen is absurd and indefensible. Yet the administration persists in it.
It is highly unusual to see a prominent newspaper editorial board publicly change its mind. The stated ground for the Post's original editorial position is lame. It criticizes the decision on procedural grounds. Is the Post incapable of judging its substance?
A defective decision making process is more likely to have resulted in a defective decision, but who cares what process the Obama administration used to come to the wrong decision? The administration is full of world-class liberal chin pullers who would come to the same decision if they had taken more time to think about it. They are simply on the wrong track.
Yesterday's Post editorial also concludes on a lame note. The Post can't quite bring itself to the conclusion that the Obama administration's treatment of Abdulmutallab as a criminal is in fact a mistake. Maybe, maybe not. It professes to have an open mind on that question.
It notes, on the one hand: "The administration claims Mr. Abdulmutallab provided valuable information -- and probably exhausted his knowledge of al-Qaeda operations -- before he clammed up. This was immediately after he was read his Miranda rights and provided with a court-appointed lawyer."
That sounds bad. Abdulmutallab was singing like a bird until the FBI read him a Miranda warning. Reasonable people would conclude that he stopped singing because of the warning.
But here the Post injects a note of epistemological uncertainty befitting a college philosophy class. The Post asserts, on the other hand: "The truth is, we may never know whether the administration made the right call or whether it squandered a valuable opportunity." The truth is, we may never know this only if we are prohibited from employing the most basic common sense to assess the situation.
More importantly, however, the administration's decision to treat Abdulmutallab as a criminal is mistaken on its face. It cannot be defended on the merits in principle and the administration has not chosen to do so. It is an obvious mistake that can be rectified -- the administration can dismiss the criminal proceedings and remit Abdulmutallab to the custody of the armed forces as an enemy combatant -- but it would be helpful to have reasonable administration allies like the Post editorial board say that it should do so forthrightly.
If the administration now chose to treat Abdulmutallab as an enemy combatant, he might well remain "clammed up." At that point we would have a good case in which to debate the folly of the administration's abandonment of the CIA's enhanced interrogation program.
“More cards are beginning to fall.”
- - - - -
Timely too.
Right before his SOTU speech.
They editorial was taken for a ride. They believed the admin, and they’ll make the same mistake again.
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2009/August/09-ag-835.html
The Task Force concluded, however, that the United States could improve its ability to interrogate the most dangerous terrorists by forming a specialized interrogation group, or High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG), that would bring together the most effective and experienced interrogators and support personnel from across the Intelligence Community, the Department of Defense and law enforcement. The creation of the HIG would build upon a proposal developed by the Intelligence Science Board.
To accomplish that goal, the Task Force recommended that the HIG should coordinate the deployment of mobile teams of experienced interrogators, analysts, subject matter experts and linguists to conduct interrogations of high-value terrorists if the United States obtains the ability to interrogate them. The primary goal of this elite interrogation group would be gathering intelligence to prevent terrorist attacks and otherwise to protect national security. Advance planning and interagency coordination prior to interrogations would also allow the United States, where appropriate, to preserve the option of gathering information to be used in potential criminal investigations and prosecutions.
It's either the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing or, more likely, both hands are dedicated to protecting Muslim terrorists and not offending Muslim nations.
Meant to write “editorial board”
hahahaha, poor obama. Everyone’s dumping on him these days.
WaPo can just shove it up their collective butts.
You know, these idiots are the ones that say that it is The Press that keep democracy healthy.
All I can ever see is that they seek to destroy the country and then, when people actually make them look as stupid as they are, they recant to try to “save face.”
May the WaPo rot in Hell.
Could you imagine if these fruits and nuts actually knew what they were doing?
I know they know what they are trying to do. I meant they have no idea how to go about getting it actually accomplished when it involves the congress and stuff.
Gratitude to God .. and our Angel in the Whirlwind ..
things are happening. Keep praying and praying.
I think Holder will be gone by year’s end, if not sooner.
commie press discovered The People are not buying the national socialism communistic policies from the Resident and Czars in the Whtie house,
and also The People are not buying newspapers that lie and carry propaganda for the “progressives”
so commie press now changes tune for self preservation
Yes.
Mort Zuckermann was the 1st, I saw that as the signal. It is all down hill from here...
Good...’bout time to turn on the impostor...now those criminals in congress are trying to sneak obamacare care through.
Did Hell freeze over too?
He was interrogated for only fifty-minutes before they administered pain medication for his injuries. I doubt very seriously if he did much singing in that little time if they were that worried about his self-inflicted injuries.
No.
Abdulmutallab interrogated for less than an hour; White House defends handling of terrorist case
By: Byron York
Chief Political Correspondent
01/24/10 9:17 PM EST
The White House is not disputing a report that FBI agents questioned accused Northwest Airlines bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab for just 50 minutes before deciding to grant him the right to remain silent and provide him with a court-appointed lawyer — a decision that led Abdulmutallab to stop talking and provide no more information.
The news came in an Associated Press reconstruction of Abdulmutallab’s first hours in custody. The AP reported that Abdulmutallab “repeatedly made incriminating statements” to U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents who originally took him into custody. Then Abdulmutallab made more statements to doctors who were treating him for burns and other injuries. Only later did FBI agents interview him — a session that lasted, according to the Associated Press, for “about 50 minutes.” Before beginning the questioning, the AP continues, “the FBI agents decided not to give him his Miranda warnings informing him of his right to remain silent” — apparently relying on an exception to Miranda that allows questioning about imminent threats.
After that, Abdulmutallab went into surgery. It was four hours before he was available for more questioning. By that time, the Justice Department in Washington had intervened. A new set of agents read Abdulmutallab the Miranda warning, telling him he had the right to remain silent — and thereafter, Abdulmutallab remained silent.
On “Fox News Sunday,” host Chris Wallace asked White House spokesman Robert Gibbs whether President Obama was informed of the decision to read Abdulmutallab his Miranda rights before or after it was done. Gibbs avoided the question, saying, “That decision was made by the Justice Department and the FBI, with experienced FBI interrogators.” Gibbs stressed that “Abdulmutallab was interrogated and valuable intelligence was gotten as a result of that interrogation.”
Wallace pressed. “But we now find out he was interrogated for 50 minutes,” he said to Gibbs. “When they came back, he was read his Miranda rights and he clammed up.”
“No,” Gibbs answered. “Again, he was interrogated. Valuable intelligence was gotten based on those interrogations. And I think the Department of Justice and the — made the right decision, as did those FBI agents.”
Then we lost a Senate seat in Massachusetts to an Army JAG, who eviscerated Obama on this issue.
"I believe that our Constitution and laws exist to protect this nation - they do not grant rights and privileges to enemies in wartime. In dealing with terrorists, our tax dollars should pay for weapons to stop them, not lawyers to defend them."
The only due consideration the WP had was many more Democrat seats would be lost in November with Obama's indefensible idiocy.
You’re difficult tonight!
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