Even the editorial board is appalled at the fecklessness of the administration on terrorism:
The Obama administration had three options: It could charge him in federal court. It could detain him as an enemy belligerent. Or it could hold him for prolonged questioning and later indict him, ensuring that nothing Mr. Abdulmutallab said during questioning was used against him in court.
It is now clear that the administration did not give serious thought to anything but Door No. 1. This was myopic, irresponsible and potentially dangerous.
Whether to charge terrorism suspects or hold and interrogate them is a judgment call. We 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.
And they’re shocked, shocked.
The Washington Post is attacking Obama?! And attacking him for being too left wing?!
Perhaps we should star marketing snowshoes in hell?
The press isn’t uniformly shedding its self-induced blindness in the case of Farouk Abdulmutallab. Today, the L.A. Times reports that Osama Bin Laden took credit for the bombing attempt (but that U.S. officials immediately expressed skepticism). The New York Times reports that Bin Laden praised Abdulmutallab’s attempt, but that he didn’t take credit. Both seem to want to tell Bin Laden that he didn’t really have anything to do with it.
In the words of Jacobim Mugatu, “I feel like I’m taking crazy pills…”
Or, as an illegitimate combatant he could be summarily executed and his corpse tossed out into the street for the dogs. But hey, 20 years of Hague Convention and Geneva Accords classes, wotta I know?
Huge loss! I’m reminded of a scene in the documentary, “The Stone Reader” when Robert Gottlieb was asked about a review of a book. Before answering the question, he asked whether or not the review was it on the cover of the Book Review section or inside and that placement made all the difference of whether or not a book had a chance of being well received.