Officials Consider Re-Examining the Right To Remain Silent

Officials Consider New Tactics to Keep Pace With Evolving Terror Threat

U.S. officials are considering new tactics -- including re-examining the right to remain silent -- in the ever-evolving war against Al Qaeda and
its affiliates, with some saying the changes are needed to keep up with
foreign terror groups in the wake of the failed Times Square bombing.

Officials say the plot proves foreign networks are intent on using American citizens to launch deadly attacks on U.S. soil. Attorney General Eric Holder and White House counterterrorism adviser John
Brennan said Sunday that the investigation has revealed that the
Pakistani Taliban were behind the failed attack, and that suspect
Faisal Shahzad -- a U.S. citizen -- likely acted on their direction.

It would mark the first time the militant group has breached America's defenses to launch an attack and signal a shift in focus, from attacks inside Pakistan to a more global target range -- using
people like Shahzad as well-placed pawns.

"We certainly have seen with the Shahzad incident that they have not only the aim, but the capability of (infiltrating the United States)," Attorney General Eric Holder said on ABC's "This Week."

To combat the changing landscape of the war, both the administration and Congress are considering changes to the law to better address potential plots inside and against the United States.

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Holder, whose Justice Department has taken criticism for reading rights to terror suspects like Shahzad and alleged Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, revealed Sunday that the administration
plans to work with Congress to propose possible changes to Miranda
rights.

"This is in fact big news," Holder said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "It is a new priority."

Holder would not reveal many details but acknowledged he may try to change the law so investigators have more time to question terror suspects before reading them their rights and so flexibility is added
to allow more evidence to be admissible in court.

"We're now dealing with international terrorism, and I think we have to think about perhaps modifying the rules that interrogators have, and somehow coming up with something that is flexible and is more
consistent with the threat that we now face," Holder said. "We
certainly need more flexibility."

Holder specifically called for changes to the so-called public safety exception which allows interrogators, as in the case of Shahzad, to hold off on reading a suspect his rights if they have reason to fear
an imminent threat to public safety and need information fast.

Holder stressed that any modifications would be "constitutional."

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said on "Fox News Sunday" that determining how to deal with Miranda rights is essential as the country faces "more and more homegrown terrorists -- yes, American citizens."

On a separate track, Sen. Joe Lieberman has proposed legislation that would revoke U.S. citizenship from anybody arrested overseas for affiliating with a foreign terror organization. The bill would expand a
1940s-era law that requires citizens fighting in a military force that
is an enemy of the U.S. to renounce their citizenship to include those
who are part of a terrorist organization.

Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., introduced a companion bill in the House.

Holder questioned the bill's constitutionality on Sunday, but Lieberman stressed its importance in fighting the evolving terror threat.

"Al Qaeda and the other terrorist groups are changing their mode of operating. And increasingly, they're looking for American citizens to carry out these plots, and one of the reasons is the passport that lets
them -- like Shahzad -- come in and out of the country," Lieberman
said. "The passport is part of a tool that the terrorist groups have
now. It's probably the main reason why the terrorists in Pakistan
wanted to use Shahzad. He had an American passport. We've got to stop
that."

Brennan told "Fox News Sunday" that while he's not sure what motivated Shahzad to seek U.S. citizenship, America's enemies are looking to "take advantage" of potential recruits like him.

Brennan said that citizenship allowed Shahzad to travel back and forth to Pakistan "numerous times," presumably without raising red flags.

The Times Square attempt has raised questions about the effectiveness of U.S. intelligence against a growing and evolving network of threats. Brennan defended the administration Sunday for its
success in thwarting a series of terror plots to date and pledged to
"refine our system as needed." But others say the attempted bombing,
along with the Christmas Day plot and the Fort Hood shooting last year,
shows that America's defenses are being penetrated.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., ranking Republican on the House intelligence committee, said Sunday that the plot means counterterror officials have even more to worry about -- with the Pakistani Taliban
being added to a growing list that already includes Al Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula and "homegrown" plots.

"This now becomes a very, very complex picture," he told Fox News. "We need to be in the business of prevention.".

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Comment by Sweettina2 on May 11, 2010 at 3:56pm: Right on fireguy!

Comment by fireguy on May 11, 2010 at 11:06am: Seems to be their method of choice for the last several thousand years.

Comment by Sweettina2 on May 11, 2010 at 3:20am: Wonder how they will enforce it, torture?

Comment by fireguy on May 11, 2010 at 12:56am: Hoekstra can prevent this...

Exodus 4:11
"Who makes mouths?" the LORD asked him. "Who makes people so they can speak or not speak, hear or not hear, see or not see? Is it not I, the LORD?
Mat 26:62-63
Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, "Well, aren't you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?"

But Jesus remained silent...