Despite repeated statements by voices on the US political Right about the need to torture terrorist suspects in order to get actionable intelligence, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab – the Crotch Bomber – is singing like a bird from his US Federal prison cell near Detroit.
Mike Allen & Kasie Hunt at Politico have this:
The “underwear bomber” has begun cooperating with FBI counterterrorism agents and has provided “useful, current” intelligence, a law enforcement source told POLITICO. The source said: “It started last week, and has continued for several days. … We have been following up. The intelligence is not stale.” He certainly sees that there are incentives provided by the criminal justice system to cooperate.
It’s a wild idea for the Party of Lincoln and Real Americans to grasp, but the American system of justice and human rights might be the right one to use when pursuing justice and human rights in American terms.
George Bush and all of the same Republicans now accusing the President of the United States of Treason certainly thought so in December, 2001:
Republican criticisms were further undermined by reports that shoe bomber Richard Reid, who tried to bring down an airplane in December 2001, was read Miranda rights five minutes after being arrested. The Bush administration specifically rejected using a military tribunal to try Reid, instead opting to try him in civilian court.
I don’t know, maybe now isn’t the time to be following the likes of George Washington and Eisenhower. There’s always the methods of Stalin and Tojo to keep in mind – now them’s was some real American heroes!
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