Treating Terrorists like Citizens and Citizens Like Terrorists

AP

With the Detroit bomber we now have a clear pattern that reveals how the Obama administration deals with terrorists – try them in civilian courts with the full rights of American citizens.

When the young Mr. Abdulmutulib got off the plane in Detroit he had started talking to the FBI. He told them there were more like him -- that is, Yemeni trained suicide bombers -- coming to America.  But once we granted him Miranda rights, he got him lawyered up and clammed up. Does Abdulmutullab know who the next terrorist attacker is, where he’ll strike, what weapons he will use? Now, we’ll never know. Yet Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was quick to claim the "system worked."

Attorney General Eric Holder has decided to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept 11 attacks, in public civilian courts -- even though the evidence gathered against him might be thrown out of court, his testimony gives Al Qaeda a propaganda platform, and the trial presents a irresistible target for suicide bombers.

The Obama administration remains committed to closing Gitmo and releasing some of the prisoners to Yemen, though previous Gitmo "grads" have returned to Al Qaeda, rather than join the Yemen Rotary Club.

And Team Obama remains so committed to political correctness that they refuse to use profiling to identify potential terrorists.

Contrast this to the way they’re treating three Navy SEALs who succeeded in capturing an Iraqi terrorist. They’ve been courtmartialed for giving the terrorists a bloody lip.

President Obama believes that many of the ills besetting America are the result of Bush administration policies and if we reverse course and apologize and are deferential enough, those ills will disappear.  So far, it’s not working. Meanwhile, Al Qaeda has spread its tentacles to new countries, recruitment is up and they’re sending a new wave of suicide bombers to attack us.

The president is treating terrorists like citizens and citizens like terrorists.  It’s not working – it’s not making us safer – and it’s time to stop.

Kathleen Troia “KT” McFarland served in national security posts in the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations. She wrote Secretary of Defense Weinberger’s November 1984 "Principles of War Speech" which laid out the Weinberger Doctrine. She is a senior adviser to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and a frequent contributor to the Fox Forum. Watch "K.T." and Mike Baker every Monday at 10 a.m. on FoxNews.com's "DefCon3."