[Infowarrior] - NSC's Brennan: "We Need No Lectures"

[Richard Forno]

(Interestingly the amount of time Brennan has taken in recent weeks to  
respond to these political allegations is in itself intereresting.  -- 
rf)

'We need no lectures' Administration disrupts terrorists’ plots, takes  
fight to them abroad
.By John Brennan
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2010/02/opposing-view-we-need-no-lectures.html?csp=34

Politics should never get in the way of national security. But too  
many in Washington are now misrepresenting the facts to score  
political points, instead of coming together to keep us safe.

Immediately after the failed Christmas Day attack, Umar Farouk  
Abdulmutallab was thoroughly interrogated and provided important  
information. Senior counterterrorism officials from the White House,  
the intelligence community and the military were all actively  
discussing this case before he was Mirandized and supported the  
decision to charge him in criminal court.

The most important breakthrough occurred after Abdulmutallab was read  
his rights, which the FBI made standard policy under Michael Mukasey,  
President Bush's attorney general. The critics who want the FBI to  
ignore this long-established practice also ignore the lessons we have  
learned in waging this war: Terrorists such as Jose Padilla and Saleh  
al-Mari did not cooperate when transferred to military custody, which  
can harden one's determination to resist cooperation.

It's naive to think that transferring Abdulmutallab to military  
custody would have caused an outpouring of information. There is  
little difference between military and civilian custody, other than an  
interrogator with a uniform. The suspect gets access to a lawyer, and  
interrogation rules are nearly identical.


Would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid was read his Miranda rights five  
minutes after being taken off a plane he tried to blow up. The same  
people who criticize the president today were silent back then.

Cries to try terrorists only in military courts lack foundation. There  
have been three convictions of terrorists in the military tribunal  
system since 9/11, and hundreds in the criminal justice system —  
including high-profile terrorists such as Reid and 9/11 plotter  
Zacarius Moussaoui.

This administration's efforts have disrupted dozens of terrorist plots  
against the homeland and been responsible for killing and capturing  
hundreds of hard-core terrorists, including senior leaders in  
Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and beyond — far more than in 2008. We need  
no lectures about the fact that this nation is at war.

Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only  
serve the goals of al-Qaeda. Terrorists are not 100-feet tall. Nor do  
they deserve the abject fear they seek to instill. They will, however,  
be dismantled and destroyed, by our military, our intelligence  
services and our law enforcement community. And the notion that  
America's counterterrorism professionals and America's system of  
justice are unable to handle these murderous miscreants is absurd.

John Brennan is Assistant to the President and Deputy National  
Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism.