Obama Drafts Order for Indefinite Detention Without Trial for Terrorists

Posted on June 27, 2009

Remember when the left used to cry about how Bush was Hitler for indefinitely detaining terrorists without trial? Now that Obama is actually considering making it law, there aren’t so many cries. Unfortunately, I have to give credit to the most annoying sock puppet in the blogosphere for consistent convictions. Yes, it is a trail balloon, and it’s being floated on a Saturday, but is shows what principles Obama is willing to consider compromising if the outrage factor is low enough. Hypocrite.

Such an order would embrace claims by former president George W. Bush that certain people can be detained without trial for long periods under the laws of war. Obama advisers are concerned that bypassing Congress could place the president on weaker footing before the courts and anger key supporters, the officials said…

Some of Obama’s top legal advisers, along with a handful of influential Republican and Democratic lawmakers, have pushed for the creation of a “national security court” to supervise the incarceration of detainees deemed too dangerous to release but who cannot be charged or tried.

But the three senior government officials said the White House has turned away from that option, at least for now, because legislation establishing a special court would be both difficult to pass and likely to fracture Obama’s own party…
“Legislation could kill Obama’s plans,” said one government official involved. The official said an executive order could be the best option for the president at this juncture. Under one White House draft that was being discussed earlier this month, according to administration officials, detainees would be imprisoned at a military facility on U.S. soil but their ongoing detention would be subject to annual presidential review. U.S. citizens would not be held in the system…

One administration official said future transfers to the United States for long-term detention would be rare. Al-Qaeda operatives captured on the battlefield, which the official defined as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and possibly the Horn of Africa, would be held in battlefield facilities.

A liberal president going against the ACLU crowd will not go over well, though I hope he has actually felt the weight of responsibility his job entails and has come to a common sense conclusion for the security of our nation. We will soon see.

Hot Air:

Bottom line: No matter how much the left pouts, Barry O’s not risking a second term on letting questionable jihadis go until some other branch of government makes him.

Moe Lane:

What’s the only thing better than popping awkward news on a Friday? Popping awkward news on the Friday after Michael Jackson died!

Jules Crittenden:

You know, it’s kind of touching to think that Obama might prove to be the single strongest factor in exalting Bush to his proper place in history … and marginalizing the radical anti-war left … thanks to his endorsement of some of Bush’s most controversial positions.

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