Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Mellifluous Name, Bitter Heart

His name, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, rolls off the tongue almost melodiously. But there is no music in the man’s heart, just evil and hatred for the U.S. It’s the name of the jihadist Islamic extremist who, on Christmas day, allegedly attempted to blow up a plane en route from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan. 

In his failed attempt, Abdulmutallab burned himself instead and was admitted to one of this nation’s best burn facilities, the University of Michigan Burn Center as his reward. He has since been charged under civil criminal law and already has civilian legal representation.

The Obama administration should have detained this man as an enemy combatant, and immediately handed him over to the U.S. military for interrogation and trial under military law.

In an interview on Monday, that is precisely what Congresswoman Candace Miller (R-MI) advocates. Miller, who sits on the House Committee on Homeland Security, says that we are at war, a rather obvious thought.

But with Eric Holder heading the Justice Department and Janet Napolitano in charge of Homeland Security, there is no chance.

President Obama is reported to be upset over the flaws in a system which failed to prevent this near-disaster, one which was thwarted only by the failure of a concealed explosive device to detonate properly. Al-Qaida won’t make that mistake a second time.

Despite President Obama’s reported outrage and stern statements to the media, it remains to be seen whether he has truly internalized the mortal threat posed to the United States and its citizens by the worldwide militant jihadist movement.

His transfer of enemy combatants to U.S. soil from Gitmo, and his insistence on bringing a high-profile terrorist to New York City for trial under civilian law are signs that he needs a transformative change of mind.

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