Obama Avoiding Intelligence Gathering Opportunities

It would seem that the Obama administration will do whatever it takes to avoid gathering intelligence from enemy combatants these days.

Immediately following the recent transfer of senior al-Qaeda leader Sulaiman Abu Ghaith into U.S. custody, the Department of Justice indicted him in federal court in New York, where he will be represented by three court-appointed attorneys.  In this setting, Abu Ghaith will have the benefit of a range of constitutional protections that would not be available to him in military custody in Guantanamo, meaning we are less likely to get valuable intelligence from him that could assist us in our counter-terrorism efforts.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Obama administration has simultaneously escalated the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) overseas to target al-Qaeda operatives.  While UAV strikes are a valuable component of the war against al-Qaeda, and should remain part of our arsenal, one cannot talk to a vaporized terrorist to find out what he knows.

Either way, President Obama is closing off intelligence-gathering opportunities.  As I wrote not long ago in The American Spectator:

“…[T]here is something amiss about a President who sees his options as either drone strikes or criminal trials when it comes to going after terrorists. At every turn, President Obama has sought to avoid the sensible and militarily valuable middle-ground of military detention, which would maximize intelligence-gathering opportunities while minimizing the legal and security risks that go with criminal trials.”

In between criminal trials and drone strikes lies military detention — a critical tool to the war effort, but one that President Obama continues to avoid for political purposes.

For an insightful read on how this indictment affects the future of military commissions, specifically with respect to 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, check out this recent piece from Andy McCarthy, an indispensable resource on all things lawfare.