More Torture, Less Miranda

Jillian Bandes | February 08, 2010 8:48 AM

White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan says four Republican congressional leaders knew what was happening with Abdulmutallab's handing before they complained about it.

Politico:

"None of those individuals raised any concerns with me, at that point," Brennan said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "They didn't say, 'Is he going into military custody? Is he going to be Mirandized?' They were very appreciative of the information. We told them we'd keep them informed. And that's what we did."

The revelation could undermine Republican complaints about the decision to treat the Nigerian suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, as a civilian criminal.

I'm just waiting for the Left to make the comparison between this incident and Pelosi's "enhanced interrogation techniques" kerfuffle. In 2002, Pelosi didn't have any problem when she was first briefed about “enhanced interrogation techniques” in Afghanistan, and then promptly began launching well-publicized complaints about them.

Two points: One, anyone who says he's not a fan of torturing terrorists but is a fan of Mirandizing them has it backwards, and two, were the Republican leaders briefed that Abdulmutallab was talking, and then allegedly stopped talking, when he got a lawyer?

Whatever the case, Pelosi didn't address her two-step on "enhanced interrogation techniques," but I hope the Republican leaders in question take the time to do so.