The Proper Response

Faisal Shahzad

Re: Faisal Shahzad ARRESTED In Connection With Times Square Car Bomb, Huffington Post, Updated: 05- 4-10 09:27 AM

A man has been arrested in connection with Saturday’s attempted car bombing in New York’s Times Square.

The suspect is Faisal Shahzad, a 30-year-old U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent. The Connecticut native was captured at JFK International Airport while attempting to board a flight to Dubai. According to a colleague, CNN’s Deb Feyerick “reports the suspect was taken off the plane when he was arrested.”

I don’t mean to try to turn this into political fodder, but I have to say that this investigation and subsequent arrest is a prime example of how well our justice department works. To the chagrin of many on the right, we did not need the military involved. No war is to be declared on Pakistan with which the suspect has ties. This is a snippet from the statement by Attorney General Holder, (bold emphasis mine):

Since this plot was first uncovered on Saturday night, the FBI, prosecutors and intelligence lawyers in the National Security Division of the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorneys Offices in Manhattan and Connecticut, along with the NYPD have worked night and day to find out who was responsible for what would have been a deadly attack had it been successful. Over the course of the day today, we have gathered significant additional evidence that led to tonight’s arrest, which was made by agents from Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection.

FBI agents are working with their state and local counterparts in New York, Connecticut and other jurisdictions to gather evidence and intelligence related to this case. We are also coordinating with other members of the President’s national security team to ensure we use every resource available to the United States to bring anyone responsible to justice.

There are no less than 7 different agencies/departments (in bold) working together to investigate this case. This is a proper, methodical, and no-nonsense reaction to what could have been the country’s worst terrorist attack since 9/11. There’s no need to go hysterical and bomb another innocent country. If Bush, or his look-alike McCain were in office they would have done everything they could have to spin this bombing attempt as somehow tied to Iran as an excuse to pound the UN to sanction bombings on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Or worse. I think that we can learn from this. I think that the Obama administration will do the right thing first. Their reaction to this terrorism attempt is a trust builder.

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UPDATE, 05/04/10, 5:00 PM, PST  

The Improper Response

From: Faisal Shahzad Arrest: Lieberman Proposes Taking Away Citizenship Of Suspected Terrorists, Ryan Grim, Huffington Post    

In arguing against the reading of Miranda rights to terrorism suspects or affording them other constitutional protections, opponents of civil liberties run up against a powerful argument when dealing with American citizens.

Joe Lieberman has a creative solution: Take away their citizenship. “If you’ve joined an enemy of the United States in attacking the United States and trying to kill Americans, I think you should sacrifice your rights of citizenship,” Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, told reporters Tuesday.

Lieberman argued that if an act of terrorism was coordinated with a group designated as a terrorist organization, then an American involved with such a group would lose citizenship and the constitutional protections that come with it. “It just seems to me if you’re attacking your fellow Americans in an act of war, you lose the rights that come with citizenship,” he said.

Joe Lieberman and other right wing asshats are throwing statements at the press urging the Obama adminstration to suddenly become the Bush administration. In other words they want torture, rendition, and loss of habeas corpus. They want to discard the accused’s Miranda rights.

Well, I don’t know what his motives or agendas are, and I don’t trust him, but even Glen Beck thinks denying Shahzad his rights is wrong:

“He is a citizen of the United States, so I say we uphold the laws and the Constitution on citizens,” the bombastic Fox News host said to the stunned co-hosts of “Fox and Friends”. “If you are a citizen, you obey the law and follow the Constitution. [Shahzad] has all the rights under the Constitution.”

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