David Rivkin slams Obama administration on Nigerian terrorist Abdulmutallab

Former Reagan official says security sacrificed for "political correctness"

Published on January 05, 2010 by Brent Baldwin (OfficialWire) WASHINGTON, D.C.

Noted commentator and former associate White House counsel David Rivkin, appearing on Wolf Blitzer's CNN newscast on Jan.4, criticized the Obama Administration for holding alleged Nigerian terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab as a criminal suspect rather than interrogating him as a captured enemy combatant.

The safety of the American people has been sacrificed on the altar of political correctness, animated by an irrational hostility towards the venerable military justice system,"Rivkin said.

Designating Umar as a criminal suspect has caused him to clam up on the advice of his lawyers and has impeded the flow of urgently needed intelligence about future attacks, Rivkin noted.

"Even if Umar did begin talking, in the context of plea negotiations this would not happen for weeks or even months," he explained.

Rivkin, co-chairman of the Center for Law and Counterterrorism at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and an expert on constitutional and international law, said that intelligence, particularly tactical intelligence, goes stale very quickly.

As reported during the Situation Room broadcast, the suspect currently has at least one public defender. If the suspect had been held as an enemy combatant he would not have received standard Miranda warnings or any access to counsel, Rivkin pointed out during the show.

About David Rivkin

David Rivkin is an attorney in private practice and partner at Baker & Hostetler in Washington, D.C., who has had a lengthy career distinguished by service in the White House during two presidents' terms, in the U.S. Department of Justice and in the U.S. Department of Energy. He is a well-known writer and media commentator on matters of constitutional and international law, as well as foreign and defense policy. He is a visiting fellow at the Nixon Center, contributing editor at the National Review, and a member of the Advisory Council at National Interest magazine. He currently serves as co-chairman of the Center for Law and Counterterrorism at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He also represents foreign governments and corporate entities on legal, political, defense, economy and public relations matters.

For more information, visit www.davidrivkin.com.