"You can't have three operators, with the infrastructure and the overhead that it takes to do this operation, and do it right," he said.
How do you plan to do this operation?
"We said that if you are doing this operation, do it quickly," one told Associated Press.
And then you have to say, given finite resources, should we fire two or three teachers to do this operation?
"It is highly unlikely they would do this operation, this very detailed, accurate and literally high-standard operation, without inside help," he said.
"I did not tell him to do this operation, but I support it," Mr. Awlaki said on the tape, adding that he was proud of Mr. Abdulmutallab.
Osteen had rarely done this operation when he was practicing, and I wondered whether he would find anything useful to tell me.
"If you were going to get your brain operated on, you wouldn't go to the doctor and say, 'I sure hope you've never done this operation before,' " he said.
"We're an Arab country and here it's a must to do this operation.
