Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

In an interview with 60 Minutes last spring, President Obama discussed the handling of captured terrorists and challenged those who claimed the "American system of justice was not up to the task of dealing with these terrorists."

Obama said: "I fundamentally disagree with that. Now -- do these folks deserve Miranda rights? Do they deserve to be treated like a shoplifter -- down the block? Of course not." President Obama ought to call Attorney General Eric Holder.  In a five-page letter to Senator Mitch McConnell, Holder lays out in exhaustive detail exactly why these folks deserve Miranda rights and why his Justice Department will treat them like a shoplifter down the block.

Attorney General Eric Holder has sent a letter defending the decision to charge Abdulmutallab as a criminal and read him his Miranda rights. This paragraph stuck out immediately: 

In the five weeks since the Christmas Day attack on Flight 253, the Obama administration has come under tremendous scrutiny for its mishandling of al Qaeda operative, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. At first the criticism focused on the many intelligence lapses that allowed Abdulmutallab on the plane.  In recent weeks, most of the attention has been on the gross incompetence of the Obama administration in the aftermath of those attacks -- from the general ignorance of top administration national security officials such as Janet Napolitano to the failure of the administration to have set up any mechanism to interrogate high-value detainees.

But nothing has drawn more criticism than the decision to read Miranda rights to Abdulmutallab after just 50 minutes of questioning by local FBI officials.

Yesterday on Meet the Press, White House adviser David Axelrod said of Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab: "We have not lost anything as a result of how this case has been handled."

As Stephen F. Hayes has thoroughly documented, there is much U.S. officials should be asking Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab about. Abdulmutallab was mirandized shortly after his arrest, however, and decided to stop talking. He has provided, at most, limited cooperation since then, prompting administration officials to claim that the FBI got everything that was needed in just 50 minutes. That is implausible for a variety of reasons. But here is one more topic for the interrogation that should have been: What does Abdulmutallab know about the Americans (including ex-convicts) al Qaeda has recruited?

Top White House adviser David Axelrod believes the U.S. government properly handled the Christmas Day bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, despite the fact that Abdulmutallab stopped talking to interrogators after having had Miranda rights read to him.  In an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press, Axelrod was asked about the decision to read Abdulmutallab his rights after just 50 minutes of interrogation.  "We have not lost anything as a result of how this case has been handled," Axelrod said.

In a hard-hitting, must-read op-ed that will run in tomorrow's Washington Post, former CIA Director Michael Hayden writes that the decision to Mirandize Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a mistake. "We got it wrong in Detroit on Christmas Day."

Hayden, who comes to these issues with the valuable perspective of a man who has known the intelligence community from a variety senior positions, writes:

During the past week, THE WEEKLY STANDARD surveyed United States Senators on the U.S. government's handling of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Christmas Day bomber.  The questions we asked were simple: Does Senator XX believe that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab should have been read his Miranda rights? And does Senator XX believe that Abdulmutallab should be tried in civilian courts?

Only one senator offered a clear and unequivocal "yes," in support of the Obama administration's handling of Abdulmutallab: Senator Roland Burris (D-IL).

This morning on Fox and Friends, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs refused to answer the question of where KSM will be tried. Here's the video:

The top Republicans in the Senate are preparing a scathing letter to Attorney General Eric Holder concerning the handling of the Christmas Day bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.  The letter, signed by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and top Republicans on committees with national security jurisdiction, accuses the Obama administration of a "preoccupation with reading the Christmas Day bomber his Miranda rights."

According to a draft obtained by THE WEEKLY STANDARD, the letter raises pointed questions about the attempted attack and the botched response by the Obama administration and the intelligence community.

It has been a month since Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab nearly killed 289 people on Flight 253. In the weeks since the Christmas Day attack, we've learned some very disturbing things about the Obama administration and terrorism.

The Washington Post adds itself to the growing chorus of critics of the Obama administration's handling of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab after his botched bombing attempt on Christmas Day.  And, in what should be a worrisome sign to the White House, the Post editorial reverses their previous endorsement of the decision to charge Abdulmutallab as a criminal: "Whether to charge terrorism suspects is a judgment call.