Brains always better to use than torture – Obama big win!

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He is talkin'

The family of the failed Christmas Day bomber, Umar Farouq Abdulmuttalab, played a pivotal role in getting their son to start cooperating with federal authorities in sharing information about Al Qaeda, a senior administration official said Tuesday evening.

Abdulmuttalab has been cooperating with authorities and sharing intelligence since last Thursday, another administration official told ABC News.

The family was “instrumental in gaining Mr. Abdulmuttalab’s cooperation,” said the senior administration official. The information Abdulmuttalab is sharing has been described by other officials as fresh and actionable.

“It has been very successful,” the official said, “as far as gaining his cooperation that will allow us then to follow up on that information.” He said the intelligence gained “has been disseminated throughout the intelligence community.”

Into Africa

After days of being briefed on information about the case, two “experienced counterterrorism agents” from the FBI flew to Lagos, Nigeria on January 1, the official said.

Once in Nigeria, the agents met with officials of the US State Department, CIA officers, and others in the “country team.”

The agents began a “thorough and comprehensive” background investigation of Abdulmuttalab, contacting his family, friends and associates and conducting thorough background interviews “to gain understanding of the subject.”

The two agents identified those family members who “directly supported gaining Umar Farouq’s cooperation and disagreed with his effort to murder innocent civilians.”

The agents and key family members arrived in back in the US on January 17th. The family members met with officials from the Justice Department and the FBI to plan a way forward.

“One of the principal reasons why his family came back is because they had complete trust in the US system of justice and believed that Umar Farouq would be treated fairly and appropriately,” the senior official said. “And that they would be as well.”

The FBI and Abdulmuttalab’s family approached the subject and “gained his cooperation. He has been cooperating for days,” the official said.

Criticism “Frustrated The Hell Out of Me”

Abdulmuttalab was talking to FBI agents on Saturday, at the same time Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, ranking Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, issued the Republican response to the president’s weekly address, decrying Abdulmuttalab’s presence in the criminal justice system.

Collins is just one of many critics questioning why Abdulmuttalab was read his Miranda rights under the criminal justice system instead of being interrogated under military rules.

“There is a reason why these things are done the way they are done and believe me it frustrated the hell out of me to listen to a lot of the comments being made that were criticizing this process,” the official said. “But the premium that this White House – that this president puts on these operations – is to make sure that we do everything possible to protect the American people.”

more…..

Obama Administration Secured Help of Abdulmuttalab’s Family to Get Him to Share Intelligence – Political Punch.