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DOJ: No More Enemy Combatants

by BooMan
Fri Mar 13th, 2009 at 05:05:12 PM EST

The Department of Justice sent out a press release this afternoon explaining that they've done away with 'enemy combatants' as a legal term.

In a filing today with the federal District Court for the District of Columbia, the Department of Justice submitted a new standard for the government’s authority to hold detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility. The definition does not rely on the President’s authority as Commander-in-Chief independent of Congress’s specific authorization. It draws on the international laws of war to inform the statutory authority conferred by Congress. It provides that individuals who supported al Qaeda or the Taliban are detainable only if the support was substantial. And it does not employ the phrase “enemy combatant.”

International laws? Of war? Will Glenn Beck's head explode? Will he feel more surrounded than ever?

DOJ: No More Enemy Combatants | 6 comments (6 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

"A rose by any other name..." (none / 0)

would still smell:

U.S. Abandons Detainee Label but Policy Is Largely Intact
By WILLIAM GLABERSON
Published: March 13, 2009
The Obama administration on Friday said it was abandoning the use in court proceedings of the Bush administration's term "enemy combatant" as it argues for the continued detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, symbolically separating itself from Bush detention policies.
But in a filing in federal court, the Justice Department argued that the president had expansive authority to detain terror suspects there without criminal charges, much as the Bush administration asserted. It provided a broad definition of those who can be held, signaling that, as long as Guantanamo remained open, the new administration would aggressively defend its ability to hold some detainees there.
"The president has the authority to detain persons" who planned or aided the 2001 terrorist attacks as well as those "who were part of, or substantially supported, Taliban or al Qaeda forces," said the filing in some 40 habeas corpus cases of detainees' challenging their imprisonment.

by Ed J on Fri Mar 13th, 2009 at 08:21:24 PM EST

Re: "A rose by any other name..." (none / 1)

I don't know that there is anything wrong with holding terrorists in detention. What is needed is a process where we are forced to prove they are terrorists and charge them with something.

by BooMan on Fri Mar 13th, 2009 at 08:29:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Correct. (none / 1)

Hence the problem with:

But in a filing in federal court, the Justice Department argued that the president had expansive authority to detain terror suspects there without criminal charges, much as the Bush administration asserted.

Emphasis mine.

by Ed J on Fri Mar 13th, 2009 at 08:34:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: DOJ: No More Enemy Combatants (none / 0)

This seems like another bucket of shit we're forced to eat.

We're still holding people without charging them in criminal court. Obama is still using the John Yoo playbook on infinite detentions.

Nothing's really changed.

More at Zandar vs. The Stupid.

by Zandar1 on Fri Mar 13th, 2009 at 10:02:28 PM EST

Re: DOJ: No More Enemy Combatants (none / 0)

They're being held under the laws written by Congress after 9-11. Not at the President's whim. Big difference.

Recommended by Hideo Kojima

by robertdsc on Sat Mar 14th, 2009 at 12:11:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: DOJ: No More Enemy Combatants (none / 0)

You can call a pound of s*** a dozen roses if you like, but it will still not look pretty in a vase or make the room smell good.

by Hurria (Muslawia@gmail.com) on Sat Mar 14th, 2009 at 04:15:45 AM EST

DOJ: No More Enemy Combatants | 6 comments (6 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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