The Washington Post adds itself to the growing chorus of critics of the Obama administration’s handling of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab after his botched bombing attempt on Christmas Day. And, in what should be a worrisome sign to the White House, the Post editorial reverses their previous endorsement of the decision to charge Abdulmutallab as a criminal: “Whether to charge terrorism suspects is a judgment call. We originally supported the administration’s judgment in the Abdulmutallab case, assuming that it had been made after due consideration. But the decision to try Mr. Abdulmutallab turns out to have resulted not from a deliberative process but as a knee-jerk default to a crime-and-punishment model.”
The Post also breaks some news in the editorial. In hearings on Wednesday, four senior counterterrorism officials — including Dennis Blair, the Director of National Intelligence — acknowledged that they hadn’t been consulted on the decision to try Abdulmutallab as a criminal. It was a stunning disclosure — something that would have immediately been a major scandal but for the fact that it took place less than 24 hours after one of the most stunning political upsets in recent American history.
