What is right on would-be bomber?

Umar Farouk Abdulmatallab, the underwear bomber, was thwarted by the passengers of NWA 253 from blowing up the plane and killing more than 288 passengers and crew. President Obama's press secretary Robert Gibbs tried to reassure our nation that the 50 minutes of questioning of this terrorist yielded a "lot of good stuff" and really no more could have been gained had he been grilled by the counterterrorism task force Obama had promised to set up.

Then we learn that Obama's promise was as empty as so many of his other promises had been. There had been no effort to set up the so-called HIG. (High Value Intelligence Gathering Group.)

The terrorist was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor for treatment of his second- and third-degree burns in the underpants area. Television news reported that he was demanding pain relief, which was given, and also demanding skin grafts. It should be noted that anything a person says under pain-killing drug sedation is not legally admissible in court. In less than an hour he was given his Miranda rights, after which he gave no further information.

Now Gibbs is gloating that the FBI flew to Nigeria, contacted Abdulmatallab's family and brought them to this country. Now 23-year-old Abdulmatallb is supposedly telling authorities a lot of current and valuable information about al Qaida operations in Yemen.

How much in the way of plea bargaining has been done? Which press release is right? The Obama administration seems to think of themselves as the anointed elite who can manipulate facts and naive people will not notice.

Priscilla Weese

Wheaton