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Obama’s terrorist detention policy a “tangled mess”: U.S. congressman

U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), chairman of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee released statement on Friday regarding the Obama Administration’s plan to bring Somali terrorist, Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame to the United States and prosecute him in the U.S. criminal court system.

Warsame is a suspected Somali terrorist with ties to al-Qaeda. He was brought to a New York City federal criminal court on Tuesday to face charges of assisting Somali terrorist group Al Shabaab, an affiliate of al-Qaeda.
 
Chairman Rogers said, “Bringing Warsame to the United States raises serious concerns about the security of our citizens, and the protection of classified information. It suggests—incorrectly—that the full spectrum of constitutional rights and the evidentiary rules of U.S. courts should apply to foreign terrorists captured abroad."
 
The Somali terror suspect was questioned by interrogators from the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group and the U.S. military, according to a White House official, in keeping with the new guidelines that took the interrogation function away from the Central Intelligence Agency and gave it to the HVDIG, which was created specifically for the interrogation of terrorists and associates.
 
"This is how a Democrat president deals with a terrorist threat: He denigrates his own protection and intelligence agencies and then he creates a new agency that is tasked with performing the same function but without a chance for success," points out former intelligence officer and police interrogator Sid Franes.

President Barack Obama’s and his so-called national security team — including the controversial Attorney General Eric Holder — have been repeatedly blasted by Republicans and even some fellow Democrats over his decision to prosecute some terrorism suspects in criminal courts and not in military courts, where rules for evidence are looser.

Even in this case, Obama’s national security team continued to strongly recommend prosecuting Warsame in a civilian trial, a federal law enforcement official told the Law Enforcement Examiner.

After his initial questioning by the HVDIG, a team of FBI agents were given access to Warsame and, according to the Justice Department, he waived his legal rights and continued to talk for several days, said theLaw Enforcement Examiner’s anonymous source. 

The 25-year old  Somali terrorist arrived in New York City late on the 4th of July with the Obama administration’s understanding that Warsame will be in a civilian detention center and tried in a civilian courtroom.

“With Warsame’s arrest we have taken an active terrorist off the battlefield. He played an active role in al- Qaeda and served as a coordinator in multiple countries with multiple terrorist organizations. Exposing an enemy combatant like this to a bigger audience in our prison system can only serve to undermine our security here at home. The Obama Administration needs to accept that it makes no sense to close Guantanamo Bay, and for the sake of our national security allow new detainees to be transferred there," said Chairman Rogers.

“Warsame showcases the tangled mess of the Obama Administration’s detention policy and practice. The last few years of “lawfare” over detainees have created bureaucratic risk aversion that often forces us to work through other countries, which is rarely optimal, or in this case a U.S. Navy ship at sea, which is also a less than ideal arrangement," Roger said.

“If the Obama Administration does not believe that the system of military commissions that Congress has created—and which the President agreed to—works for newly captured terror suspects, the Administration should propose an alternative mechanism, not just default to the use of American criminal courts, which have repeatedly proven to be ineffective in the detention and prosecution of terror suspects and the protection of classified information.”
 

Jim Kouri: Jim Kouri, CPP, formerly Fifth Vice-President, is currently a Board Member of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a columnist for Examiner.com and New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he's a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com). Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He's a news writer and columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he's syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. Kouri appears regularly as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Fox News Channel, Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, etc.

To subscribe to Kouri's newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write "Subscription" on the subject line.
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