Source:
SF ChronObama adviser: Stop criticizing anti-terror effort
By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer
(02-07) 08:26 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --
An exasperated White House newly committed to preaching partisan peace slammed Republicans for playing politics on national security and making ignorant allegations about the investigation into the Christmas airliner plot.
Deputy national security adviser John Brennan complained Sunday that politicians, many of them Republicans, were unfairly criticizing the administration for partisan purposes and second-guessing the case with a "500-mile screwdriver" that reaches from Washington to the scene of the abortive attack in Detroit.
"Quite frankly, I'm tiring of politicians using national security issues such as terrorism as a political football," Brennan said. "They are going out there. They're unknowing of the facts. And they're making charges and allegations that are not anchored in reality."
Brennan's comments came a day after Obama urged Democrats to work with Republicans, telling those attending the Democratic Party's winter meeting that "we can't solve all of our problems alone." The president offered a similar message to a recent gathering of House Republicans.
Republicans have been particularly vocal in criticizing the Obama administration's decision to charge accused bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in criminal rather than military court and allowing him to be advised of his rights. In contrast to claims that Abdulmutallab stopped talking to authorities, administration officials have contended that the suspect has been providing useful information.
Brennan said he had personally briefed top GOP lawmakers on Christmas night about Abdulmutallab's arrest and that none of them raised objections.
"There's been quite a bit of an outcry after the fact, where again, I'm just very concerned on behalf of counterterrorism professionals throughout our government, that politicians continue to make this a political football and are using it for whatever political or partisan purposes," he said.
Among those he said he briefed were Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio; and the top Republicans on the congressional intelligence committees, Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri and Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan.
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/02/07/national/w073934S28.DTL&tsp=1
No Palin here. Just Repukes being spanked and called out for being liars.