President Obama’s comments Thurs day may suggest that he now recog nizes the nation is “at war” — but his actions sure suggest otherwise.
And what better illustrates this than panty-bomber Umar Abdulmutallab’s appearance yesterday in a civilian court — with a public defender and the same toolkit of legal rights available to any garden-variety attempted murderer?
He pleaded not guilty.
Sheesh. The admitted al Qaeda operative might as well have been a garden-variety attempted murderer.
Obama said that Abdulmatuallab’s attempt to blow up Flight 253 on Christmas was a reminder “of the challenge we face in protecting our country.” He argued for a bold, aggressive response.
“Let’s be clear about what this moment demands,” the president said. “We are at war” — against “a far-reaching network of violence and hatred.”
Vowed Obama: “We will do whatever it takes to defeat them.”
Oh, really?
Since when are wartime enemies tried before a civilian judge?
Surely even Obama knows that you don’t prosecute a war — by prosecuting your enemy.
The president also noted the importance of “timely, accurate intelligence.” He called it “America’s first line of defense.”
But then why shield Abdulmutallab from military interrogators and, indeed, give him a Miranda right to zip his lips?
Obama’s deeper-seated view also becomes clearer in his insistence, despite everything, on closing Guantanamo Bay.
So, too, can you gauge the steepness of his team’s learning curve by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napalitano’s latest set of bizarro comments.
Asked for the most “stunning” finding from a review of security lapses, Napolitano answered: “The determination of al Qaeda and Al Qaeda-Arabian Peninsula.”
That’s astonishing.
Has she been living under a rock since Sept. 10, 2001?
Did not the collapse of the Twin Towers sink in?
Is she unaware of London? Madrid? Bali? Richard Reid? Fort Hood? And so on?
But then, this is from an official who claimed “the system worked” after the panty-bomber snuck a bomb on a plane and nearly set it off.
You want “stunning”?
How about that Obama actually put such a person in charge of the nation’s security?
Sure, facing a PR fiasco, the president may concede that America is at war.
But it’s high time he acted like it is.