The geniuses over at Think Progress’s “Wonk Room” are exposing their ignorance on interrogation again. The Left is desperate to hail the fact that Abdulmutallab is now talking as a major success for the Obama administration. But as I point out in today’s Daily Caller, it is absurd to hail as a success the fact that the Christmas bomber has finally talked after five weeks of silence. The delay in Abdullutallab’s interrogation cost us precious time-sensitive intelligence:

Every hour, every day, every week that went by gave them precious time to close bank accounts, e-mail addresses, phone numbers he knew about, and shut down training camps, safe houses, and other intelligence leads he could have given us. . . . The intelligence he possessed was perishable. Each moment that passed that he was not speaking meant lost counterterrorism opportunities.

A-ha! say the intelligence experts at Think Progress. In a post entitled “Torture Advocate Thiessen Refuted By Own Book,” they cite passages from Courting Disaster in which, they say, I acknowledge “that Abu Zubaydah — whose interrogation, remember, Thiessen claims as a triumph of intelligence-gathering — spent several weeks in the hospital before being interrogated.” They then quote directly from the book, where I write “The CIA flew in a specialist from Johns Hopkins University who saved Zubaydah’s life. The agency then put off questioning for several weeks while he recovered” (emphasis theirs). “Yet Thiessen hails Zubaydah’s eventual interrogation as an intelligence bonanza, a textbook example of how to do it right. Abdulmuttalab, on the other hand? Lost counterterrorism opportunity.”

So have I refuted myself? Of course not.

Here’s the big difference between these two cases that seems to elude the folks in the Wonk Room.

Abu Zubaydah’s interrogation was delayed in order to save his life. He would have died had the CIA not put off his interrogation and flown in a medical specialist from Johns Hopkins to treat his life-threatening injuries. You can’t get any intelligence from a dead terrorist.

Abdulmutallab’s life was not in danger. His interrogation was delayed because the Obama administration told him he had the right to remain silent.

One interrogation was delayed to save the terrorist’s life. The other was delayed because the Holder Justice Department, without even consulting the intelligence community, decided to read him his Miranda rights. Big difference.

Message to the folks at Think Progress: Try actually thinking before you post.