Arlen Williams
Gulag Bound
11/29/2011
Over Thanksgiving weekend, an extraordinarily evil, Trojan Horse amendment was concocted for our current “Defense Authorization Bill,” and sponsored by John McCain (AZ-R) and Carl Levin (MI-D). And once again Ron Paul attempts to stave off “progressive” tyranny, leading to totalitarianism.
It may be called the Levin-McCain anti-Citizen, anti-due-process, authoritarian amendment to bill S. 1867. As The Hill points out below, it “could allow American citizens who are suspected of terrorism to be denied a civilian trial.”
Are there enough civil libertarians (read, Americans of authentic political conviction) left in Congress to kill this fascistic amendment?…
The article continues at Gulag Bound.
At The Hill, Sens. Paul, McCain clash over terrorist detainee amendment
Republican Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and John McCain (Ariz.) battled on the Senate floor Tuesday over a proposed amendment to the pending defense authorization bill that could allow American citizens who are suspected of terrorism to be denied a civilian trial.
Paul argued the amendment, which is cosponsored by McCain, “puts every single American citizen at risk” and suggested that if the amendment passes, “the terrorists have won.”
“Should we err today and remove some of the most important checks on state power in the name of fighting terrorism, well then the terrorists have won,” Paul argued, “[D]etaining American citizens without a court trial is not American.”…
Senate blocks attempt to remove language allowing indefinite military detention for terror suspects
The Senate has rejected an attempt to remove language from the National Defense Authorization Act that would allow the administration to place terror suspects in military detention indefinitely.
An amendment proposed by Colorado Democratic Sen. Mark Udall to remove the language was defeated by a vote of 61 to 37. The dispute generated fierce debate both inside the halls of the Congress and in the press.
The bill currently mandates military custody for certain terror suspects. If passed, it would take prosecutorial responsibility that currently lies with the Department of Justice and domestic law enforcement agencies like the FBI and transfer it to the Department of Defense.
Udall penned a column in the Washington Post arguing that the provision would place an undue burden on the military, possibly compromising national security. He cited the concerns of Defense Secretary Panetta and FBI Director Robert Mueller.
“The provisions,” Udall wrote, “would require the military to dedicate a significant number of personnel to capturing and holding terrorism suspects — in some cases indefinitely — even those apprehended on U.S. soil.”
The White House also expressed concern that compliance with the new provision could compromise the president’s ability to deal with security threats…
Read the whole thing…
