Was The Intelligence Gained By The Obama Administration From The Xmas Panty Bomber, “Actionable” or “Perishable”?

The  Obama administration revealed to the surprise of many on  Tuesday that they had gained the cooperation of family members of Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab to help get the Christmas Day him talking.

They claim that the cooperation  has led to actionable intelligence that “could help prevent terror attempts on U.S. soil”.

CNN reported:

The revelation is part of an aggressive attempt by the White House to push back on Republican claims the Obama administration mishandled the terror investigation, with AbdulMutallab being read his Miranda rights shortly after he began cooperating with investigators.

In other words they are in acute CYA mode.

In releasing the new information, senior administration officials were direct about saying they’re trying to show the case has been handled properly and the Obama administration is doing all it can to keep the country safe from future attacks.

One of the senior administration officials said, “We are in a very active war against al Qaeda” and “very experienced individuals who know what they’re doing” are handling the interrogations well, despite the charges by Republicans.

Charges like these made by Sen. Susan Collins, and Senator McCain.

Marc Thiessen at The Daily Caller explains why this news does not in any way justify the Obama administration’s handling of the Christmas bomber.

That anyone can consider five weeks of utter silence from this high-value terrorist as a success is stunning. Abudulmutallab was supposed to be vaporized along with Northwest Flight 253. The moment al-Qaida learned that he had survived and was in U.S. government custody, they began taking countermeasures to cover his tracks.

Every hour, every day, every week that went by gave them precious time to close bank accounts, e-mail addresses, phone numbers he knew about, and shut down training camps, safe houses, and other intelligence leads he could have given us. Terrorists he knew about have been put into hiding, and other leads that were hot in the days immediately following his capture have since gone cold. The intelligence he possessed was perishable. Each moment that passed that he was not speaking meant lost counterterrorism opportunities.

The mishandling of Abdulmutallab’s questioning is an intelligence failure of massive proportions. And it highlights the problem with the Obama administration’s approach to terrorist interrogation. The administration’s approach is built on a law-enforcement model unsuited for the challenges of the war on terror. Here is why:

Keep reading, here.