Remember all the hubbub those on the right had about Christmas underwear bomber Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab? That treating him like a criminal and having the FBI interrogate him was the wrong thing to do? That if we gave him the same rights as criminals (like in that pesky document called the Constitution) it would send the wrong message? That we wouldn't get any intelligence? That he should be shipped off to Gitmo or some other undisclosed location never to be heard from again?
Yeah. Not so much.
Senior Obama administration officials revealed late Tuesday they've secretly gained the cooperation of family members of Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab to help get the Christmas Day airline bomb suspect talking.
The cooperation effort has led to actionable intelligence that could help prevent terror attempts on U.S. soil, the senior officials said.
Gee. What a novel concept. The rule of law. Actually helping in the effort with the War on Terror. And producing actual results, as in, the guy is singing like a canary.
Interestingly enough, having a new person in the White House might have a little to do with it:
One senior Obama administration official said the family members privately conveyed to the suspect they "had complete trust in the U.S. system" and they believed he "would be treated fairly" by the Obama administration.
The senior administration officials said that since AbdulMutallab began talking to investigation again last week, he has been cooperating on a daily basis. The officials added the information gained from the interrogations has been disseminated throughout the intelligence community.
Now, I suppose we could have done it the old way, i.e., Dubya's way. Lock 'em up, throw away the key, do those "enhanced interrogation techniques we don't want to admit are torture" to get information. Information, of course, that would not be as credible (as Nice Guy Eddie said in the movie Reservoir Dogs, you can beat somebody and they will eventually tell you who started the great Chicago fire...but that doesn't necessairly make it so). That is, of course, one way to "keep us safe."
Another way is to treat a terrorist like a criminal. Of course, the right wing will harumph about how terrorists are hell bent in killing and maiming us, wanting us to do horrible harm, etc.
But then again, the last time I checked, murderers want to kill people too. And they get investigated as well. And they get interrogated as well.
Seems to me that if the suspect is singing, no sense in stopping the music now. A different way of doing things might actually be a better way, and has the added benefit of being both moral and legal.
How refreshing.