Intelligence information is a major factor in the war on terrorism. Knowing where the terror cells are and what the current plan of attack is can save many lives. As much as the use of waterboarding on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed may have been controversial, it probably saved a lot of lives in America and in other countries. Terrorists are trained not to talk and when they do talk to give misleading or incomplete information. Waterboarding tended to break through that without doing any permanent damage to the person being waterboarded. It was a very useful tool after 911 in finding out what Al Qaeda had in store for America.
About two weeks ago, Yahoo News posted an Associated Press story about the capture of Umar Patek in Pakistan. Mr. Patek is a suspected member of the al-Qaida-linked militant group Jemaah Islamiyah. He is beleived to have been the group's deputy field commander in the nightclub bombings in Bali in 2002 that left 202 people dead, many of them foreigners.
The article states:
"Patek was one of the "last senior JI (Jemaah Islamiyah) commanders with significant experience" in the original Afghan al-Qaida camps and longstanding ties to the international jihadist network and its donors."
Needless to say, this man has a lot of information that would be very helpful to American efforts to prevent terrorist attacks in this country and to learn about terrorist connections around the world. So what happened next?
On Tuesday of this week, Fox News reported:
"In a statement, White House Spokesman Tommy Vietor told Fox News, "We have an interest in Patek and would hope that he could be brought to justice for his role in the 2002 Bali bombing. Working through the usual intelligence and law enforcement channels, we stand ready to assist our partners in whatever way we can."
"Late Tuesday, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that the Pakistanis have been questioning Patek, and that the U.S. has sought access to him, but so far, that request has been denied.
"Unless there's a change, Patek will be sent directly from Pakistan to Indonesia where he is expected to stand trial for the Bali bombing in October 2002."
This is no way to run the war on terror.
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