That 4 Week Gap Posted by Adam Blickstein

As GOP lines of attack dwindle in the face of overwhelming evidence that President Obama's approach to terrorism, especially the successful interrogation of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, is working effectively to keep America safe, it seems they are now focusing on the supposed "4 week gap" between the time Abdulmutallab stopped talking and when he again started providing intelligence. First, it's clear that the GOP's preferred method, military confinement and enhanced interrogation, would have been ineffective:

Those who had access to Abdulmuttalab concluded that "putting him in front of somebody with a military uniform would have made him even more opposed to any type of cooperation," the official said. "The way to get to him is to use family members who are going to be supportive of what we’re trying to do”

Further, we never would have gotten his family to assist had we gone down the GOP's ineffective interrogation road:

“One of the principal reasons why his family came back is because they had complete trust in the US system of justice and believed that Umar Farouq would be treated fairly and appropriately," the senior official said. "And that they would be as well.”

But driving down that political dead end has allowed the GOP to turn around and now bemoan the apparent 4 week gap in intelligence collection as a threat to American security. As Susan Collins ineptly explained today:

Second, the fact is that there was a long gap between Christmas day and late last week when the terrorists started answering questions again. We will never know how much information we lost, we could have acted on during that time. It is not like al Qaeda in Yemen did nothing during that six-week gap.

The key point the GOP focuses on is not that we have garnered useful intelligence from the lawful interrogation Abdulmutallab that is protecting American lives (including leading to the arrests of 10 terrorists in Malaysia), something that should be celebrated across party lines, but the fact that there was an apparent gap in intelligence gathering that could have been mitigated by military interrogation or "other means." Not that they ever elucidate on what those other means entail or point to any evidence that proves whatever it is they advocate has been effective in the past. Yet we do, in fact have evidence that the very system of interrogation and detention the GOP seems to desire has been extremely ineffective before.

In fact, 7 months in military custody as an "enemy combatant," Jose Padilla provided little or no useful intelligence to thwart any potential attacks or uncover any further terrorist activity. From the Director of  Defense Intelligence Vice Admiral Lowell E. Jacoby's own affidavit from January 2003, 7 months after Padilla was transferred to military custody:

The information that Padilla may be able to provide is time-sensitive and perishable. As noted above, any information obtained from Padilla must be assessed in connection with other intelligence sources; similarly, Padilla is a potential source to help assess information obtained from other sources. Any delay in obtaining information from Padilla could have the severest consequences for national security and public safety.

By Jacoby's own account, it is clear that Padilla provided little to no useful intelligence 7 months in. They acknowledge the urgency involved, and that each passing day is another day Padilla becomes a less valuable intelligence asset. But they don't describe any actionable intelligence gained, just that he should not be given a lawyer:

I assess Padilla's potential intelligence value as very high.

Providing him access to counsel now would create expectations by Padilla that his ultimate release may be obtained through an adversarial civil litigation process...Any such delay in Padilla's case risks that plans for future attacks will go undetected during that period, and that whatever information Padilla may eventually provide will be outdated and more difficult to corroborate.

Padilla may hold extremely valuable information for the short-term and long-term security of the United States. Providing Padilla access to counsel risks the loss of a critical intelligence resource, and could affect our ability to detain other high value terrorist targets and to disrupt and prevent additional terrorist attacks.

Jacoby starkly demonstrates the U.S. really had no clue what kind of intelligence Padilla may or may not have because it's not clear we got any useful intelligence from him. Padilla was silent for 7 months, but ironically they used that as an argument for not providing Padilla with any counsel or rights, even though Jacoby also admits that any delay in  intelligence gathering would have grave consequences for American security. Future Attorney General Mike Mukasey actually refuted the Bush administration's assertions that providing Padilla with counsel would inhibit interrogations (which up till now were obviously not working) saying "the interference with interrogation would be minimal or non-existant."

A 7 month gap versus a 4 week gap, which is more egregious? The GOP's "enemy combatant" approach they continue to advocate left America dangerously vulnerable and exposed for at least 7 months in 2002. And it's very telling that we got more out of Abdulmutallab in 4 weeks by following the the rule of law and working within the criminal justice system than we apparently got out of Padilla in 7 months under enemy combatant designation in military custody.

But the GOP would never acknowledge that, because it undercuts their underlying motives: that to them, partisan politics are more important than keeping America safe.

Comments

[cheap r4i card]

As much as I criticize Obama for his lack of a liberal/progressive agenda in other areas, it is good to see actual grown-ups in charge for a change. Serious, professional people get things done.I think that is what scares the corporatists the most - that government will actually work.

[rado watches]

If you have PANERAI Watches , I still have my idea to achieve.

[sesli sohbet]

Thank You Editors..sesli sohbet sesli chat

[shelving]

We all know these years china pallet racking in china develop very fast, now the design capacity of racking is very strong in china.
You can see every kind of china racking in china, includingDrive in racking,
cantilever racking, shelving,Longspan shelving, dexion racking,. We also have very experienced engineer to do the design and instlaation job.

as a whole contractor for refrigeration equipment, design, manufacturing, installation of cold store

[ray ban 2010 sunglasses]

Yellow lens of Ray ban wayfarer can 100% filter UV, allowing infrared and 83% visible light through the lens.

Its greatest feature is that you can filter the sun's most dazzling blue.

Sunlight through the atmosphere, the most performance is the blue light, which is why you see the sky is blue. Yellow lens filters blue light, the natural scenery can be seen more clearly. So driving with a yellow lens Ray ban 2010 sunglasses, you can more clearly see from the vehicle.

Ray ban sunglasses sale

ray ban 2010 sunglasses sale

ray ban sunglasses sale

ray ban wayfarer message from http://www.eyewear-rayban.com

[stianless steel rings]

We don't take the luxury route, just playing crazy exaggeration and assertive personality. In addition we break the traditional and innovative stainless steel bracelet, stainless steel rings and so on. Our stainless steel jewelry has great stage effects. The color, texture and design are very fashion. The breakthrough in molding achieves the strong sense of art stainless steel jewelry. It experiences a foreign land and customs, tracking the trend of the international fashion accessories. Our company welcomes the large stainless steel jewelry wholesalers to e-mail consultation.
E-mail: sus360@hotmail.com
website: http://www.sus360.com

[huo638671]

During each day, up to a hand wearing a (worn on the ring finger or little finger, never to be worn on links of london saleother fingers, if the hands have been wearing a wedding ring or engagement ring, the hand would not have worn anything else), links of london sale can be put on watch, pearl bracelet (or other beads of the bracelet).

[sesli sohbet]

Very informative and trustworthy blog. Please keep updating with great posts like this one. I have booked marked your site and am about to email it to a few friends of mine that I know would enjoy reading

[seslisohbetci]

Very informative and trustworthy blog. Please keep updating with great posts like this one. I have booked marked your site and am about to email it to a few friends of mine that I know would enjoy reading

[TıkLa-SohbeT]

seslisohbet siteleri arasında ekol bir adres sestonum hemen sohbette başlamak icin sestonum 'tıklayınız..! seslisohbet ve seslichat adreslerinin gözdesi hemen tıklayarak seslisohbet yapmaya başlaya bilirsiniz..!

sestonum
seslichat
seslisohbet

[QodesQoM]

Türkiyenin ilk Hiphop Sitesi için tıkla -> Hiphop <-
Gekko G Fan Sitesi için tıkla -> Gekko G <-
Mask Animasyon sitesi için tıkla -> Mask animasyon <-

[FFXIV GIL]

Are you fighting in Final Fantasy XIV for FFXIV Gil or Final Fantasy XIV Gil?
Can you suffer yourself being called newbie in FFXIV Gil game?
Are you seeking unofficial Buy FFXIV Gil cheats or Final Fantasy XIV guides in order to make Final Fantasy XIV Gil faster?
Can you get millions of Cheap FFXIV Gil in one day?
Even if you know how to farm Buy Final Fantasy XIV Gil you have to prepare enough Final Fantasy XIV Power Leveling first to buy height class Final Fantasy XIV Items, to upgrade your Final Fantasy XIV characters.
Buy aika gold
Then why not Buy FFXIV Gil from us?
In Final Fantasy XIV it's the fastest way FF14 Gil,for you to get rich. We are online 24 hours a day ready and 7 days one week to power up your FFXIV Gil accounts with FFXIV Gil. Here is the best place for the Final Fantasy XIV Online players to buy your Final Fantasy XIV Gil.
We are the professional website in FFXIV GIL sale.FFXIV GIL here,We are professional FFXIV Power Leveling online. We update price every single day to make sure we are the lowest in the market.(we don't compare price with scam sites which uses unbelievable low price to deceive.)
Our slogan:Cheapest price, Fastest delivery, Best service!

Cheap aika gold
In the 2 years we are in this field , AIKA Goldbuilt many business with tens of thousands of customers. They are very satisfied with our service.So if you want to get a log of Cheap FFXIV Gil ,no doubt ,come to our website to buy. Our customer service is ready for you on line now!(GM MMO)

[nike air max]

against such attacks, but Rieff's words are so ridiculous that an exception (forgive the pun) must be made. For starters I will let others

[designer wholesale handbags]

These kind of post are always inspiring and I prefer to read quality content so I happy to find many good point here in the post, writing is simply great, thank you for the post! http://www.taobao-trade.com.

[designer handbags on sale]

but Rieff's words are so ridiculous that an exception (forgive the pun) must be made. For starters I will let others

[By_Karizma]

Sales of Oh, thank you for sharing! Sesli Sohbet I'm in the midst Dos seslisehir Equis grew a whopping 17% last seslinerede year according to Beer seslivatan Marketing Insights (a benchmark izle group for retail.
Also to note - their nenerede advertising budget also grew substantially: up to $8.5 million last year compared to a $5.6 million seslidunya from the year before!

[replica handbags]

I was reading something else about this on another blog. Interesting. Your position on it is diametrically contradicted to what I read earlier. I am still contemplating over the opposite points of view, but I'm tipped heavily toward yours. And no matter, that's what is so great about modernized democracy and the marketplace of thoughts on-line.

[white iphone 4]

Just want to say what a great blog you got here!I've been around for quite a lot of time, but finally decided to show my appreciation of your work!

[Sohbet Arkadaslik]

nice that 4 week like post..

[Atap baja ringan]

Actually, I like this article very
much.. It's really very well
written, informative and very
useful for everyone, I've
bookmarked it to re-visit in the
future.. Keep up the great
works and thank you very
much for this,..

Atap baja ringan

[冷夜]

in charge for a change. Serious, professional people get things done.I think that i

[knockoff handbags]

i am glad to study your opinion. m41414 Keepall 55, m41416 Keepall 50, m41522 Speedy 40, m41528 Speedy 25, 219704, m40249 artsy mm, m40259 artsy gm, M45257 Messenger Bag, M40156 Neverfull MM, m40144 Tivoli GM

[ドラゴンネスト RMT]

Well, the Dog Days of Summer are upon us.TERA RMT
And unlike in the C9 RMT
recent past, this summer we have seen a strange chemical substance (dihydrogen monoxide) falling from the sky.

For those who were asleep in Chemistry GE

RMT
class: that would be RAIN. TheFW RMT
political forces took note of the amount of

[replica handbags]

Great Site, your plugins are very useful and save me a tonne of time.