1 Boring Old Man

Liz Cheney: Obama’s ‘first instinct’ to Mirandize terrorists
Raw Story
By David Edwards and Gavin Dahl
May 9, 2010

Authorities questioned the failed Times Square bomber for three to four hours before notifying him of his rights, but Liz Cheney seems to be ignoring that fact. The daughter of the former vice president told Fox News’ Chris Wallace that the Obama administration’s "first instinct" was to read wannabe bomber Faisal Shahzad his Miranda rights.

"When the administration captures a terrorist and their first instinct is to inform him that he’s got the right to remain silent, that is exactly the wrong way to win this war," Cheney said Sunday. "If you aren’t willing to acknowledge that you’re facing a committed network of terrorists as your enemies, and that it’s radical jihadist Islam, then your response to that is gonna be, by definition, insufficient time and time again," said Cheney. There appears to be little substance to her claims in the most recent case. Attorney General Eric Holder has insisted that reading Shahzad his rights has not limited their case in any way.

He was apprehended two days after parking the SUV loaded with explosives in Times Square, and arresting officers immediately questioned him about imminent threats before informing him of his right to remain silent. They invoked the "security exception" a legal means of circumventing the Miranda rights he is guaranteed by his US citizenship.

Think Progress notes:

Asked on Friday whether Mirandizing Shahzad had impeded the ongoing investigation, Attorney General Eric Holder said, “No, it did not. Reading suspects their Miranda warnings has not deterred them from speaking to investigators, and Mr. Shahzad is, in fact, continuing to cooperate with us.” But, in Liz Cheney’s world, this represents a failure.

Holder faces criticism from the left as well, after calling for Congress to consider an update to Miranda rights in a television interview Sunday.

Holder: Pakistani Taliban linked to Times Square bomber
Raw Story
By Agence France-Presse
May 9th, 2010

As more evidence has emerged from the failed Times Square bombing plot, officials have changed their story as to whether the bomber acted alone. The Attorney General revealed Sunday that Faisal Shahzad was connected to the Pakistani Taliban.

"We’ve now developed evidence that shows that the Pakistani Taliban was behind the attack," Holder said on ABC television’s Sunday current affairs talk show "This Week." "We know that they helped facilitate it. We know that they probably helped finance it, and that he was working at their direction," he said.

Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani born US citizen, was pulled off a plane to Dubai and arrested Monday for allegedly leaving a sport utility vehicle rigged to explode in New York’s Times Square just over a week ago. Holder’s comments came as the New York Times reported that the United States warned Pakistan it must crack down on Islamic extremists or face severe consequences. General Stanley McChrystal, the US commander in Afghanistan, urged Pakistan’s General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in Islamabad on Friday to quickly begin a military offensive against the Pakistani Taliban and Al-Qaeda in North Waziristan.

John Brennan, the White House deputy national security adviser, echoed Holder’s charges, pointing the finger at the Pakistani Taliban in an interview with CNN. "It looks like he was working on behalf of the TTP, the Pakistani Taliban," Brennan said. "This group is closely allied with Al Qaeda. This is something that we’re taking very seriously."

It’s fashionable these days for Left Wing bloggers to criticize the Obama Administration – not Progressive enough or ‘just like the Bush Administration.’ Well, I for one like Eric Holder ,and I like the way the Obama Administration handled the Times Square bomber. They caught him. The questioned him in a way that worked while respecting his rights. They waited to say that he was trained by the Pakistani Taliban – until they felt like they knew the answer. Holder is neither too cryptic nor too open. But mostly, I trust that what he’s saying is the truth.

Sooner or later, one of these groups is going to succeed setting off a bomb here. It’s inevitable. The Cheneys are going to blame it on Obama and his being unwilling to get tough and water·board people and being obsessed with Miranda-izing people. Then they’re going to talk about their own record  on terrorism [having only lost 4000+ soldiers and 3000+ civilians on 9/11 during their watch].