Dealing with a crisis the intelligent way, not the Rightard way
Harry Hope
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g5qahbdxrrQ1WG4-T2qJPFPc5Spg
Official silence on US plane plot helps investigation: experts
By Mira Oberman (AFP)
CHICAGO �
US officials are keeping mostly mum on what they have gleaned from a
Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airplane
despite criticism that they are leaving a frightened public in the
dark.
Experts said Tuesday that the paucity of public pronouncements will
help investigators track down his associates and build a stronger
criminal case.
"They don't want to reveal all that they know and they don't want
Al-Qaeda to know what it is that this guy is actually saying and how
much he's cooperating," said Stephen Saltzburg, a former top
prosecutor who teaches law at George Washington University.
"They want Al-Qaeda to be guessing about what they don't know and they
do know and -- depending on what he's saying -- there may be some
retaliatory moves they might make that might not be as effective if
people knew they were in the offing."
US media have quoted anonymous law enforcement officials as saying
that 23-year-old suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab confessed to
receiving specific training for the attack from an Al-Qaeda bombmaker
in Yemen.
But the charging sheet released a day after the botched Christmas Day
attack made no mention of whether Abdulmutallab was acting alone or if
he had ties to a terrorist organization.
The administration has not formally responded to a claim of
responsibility by an Al-Qaeda affiliate in the Arabian peninsula.
Nor have investigators or prosecutors responded publicly to questions
from the media.
And President Barack Obama did not comment on Friday's botched terror
attack until Monday afternoon, prompting criticism from his Republican
foes.
New York Congressman Peter King said there was no need for Obama to
"rush for a microphone" but noted the president's media ubiquity over
the past year and asked him for a "calm, reassuring" pep talk.
There were certainly some "political dynamics" involved in the
administration's decision to limit its comments on the case, said
David Carter, a criminal justice professor at Michigan State
University.
"But from the investigation and operational side you want to get as
much intelligence out of it and as much evidence out of it as you
can," he told AFP.
Investigators also have to make sure they "get the right story and get
it straight."
"You don't want to start releasing info that turns out not to be
entirely accurate because it's terrible to have to backtrack and say
whoops we were wrong," Carter said.
According to charging documents, Abdulmutallab tried to bring down the
Airbus A330 with 290 people on board using a device containing the
explosive PETN, also known as pentaerythritol.
The explosive material was allegedly sewn into his underwear and
officials believe tragedy was averted only because the detonator
failed to work properly before fellow passengers jumped on the
would-be bomber.
He was charged Saturday with attempting to destroy an airplane and
placing a destructive device on the plane.
It's common for prosecutors to limit the initial charges to what they
can immediately prove in order to get a dangerous suspect off the
streets, said Robert Chesney, a national security law specialist at
the University of Texas at Austin.
More details will likely emerge either in a formal indictment or in
additional charges should the evidence bear out allegations of broader
terrorist ties, he said.
"But in the meantime none of that is necessary in order to prosecute
this guy for his attempt to destroy the plane," Chesney said.
_____________________________________________
What? No torture? tsk, tsk
Harry
dipsy
wrote:
What disclosed source said it was PETN? Was it the FBI? Or was it one
of those "undisclosed sources" that feeds the media with
disinformation? A picture of a diaper is not exactly having a press
conference and showing the substance in public, is it?
The media had information within hours that the "explosive" was
acquired in Yemen. They couldn't get that out fast enough. Now they
can use this Yemen connection to justify the war the CIA has been
warring in northern Yemen agaunst the al Houthi rebels who are
nationalists trying to overthrow their corrupt US-backed government.
But just call them "terrorists" or al Qaeda and they are repressed
again and the puppets stay in the Yemeni government.
John Q Public
your nym dipsy is not fitting enough, should be dipshit