Can Anyone Be An "Enemy Combatant"?

"Sleeper Cell" Case Questions Bush Authority To Detain U.S. Residents Indefinitely Without Trial

(AP)  If his cell were at Guantanamo Bay, the prisoner would be just one of hundreds of suspected terrorists detained offshore, where the U.S. says the Constitution does not apply.

But Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri is a U.S. resident being held in a South Carolina military brig; he is the only enemy combatant held on U.S. soil. That makes his case very different.

Al-Marri's capture six years ago might be the Bush administration's biggest domestic counterterrorism success story. Authorities say he was an al Qaeda sleeper agent living in middle America, researching poisonous gasses and plotting a cyberattack.

To justify holding him, the government claimed a broad interpretation of the president's wartime powers, one that goes beyond warrantless wiretapping or monitoring banking transactions. Government lawyers told federal judges that the president can send the military into any U.S. neighborhood, capture a citizen and hold him in prison without charge, indefinitely.

There is little middle ground between the two sides in al-Marri's case, which is before a federal appeals court in Virginia. The government says the president needs this power to keep the nation safe. Al-Marri's lawyers say that as long as the president can detain anyone he wants, nobody is safe.

A Qatari national, al-Marri came to the U.S. with his wife and five children on Sept. 10, 2001 - one day before the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. He arrived on a student visa seeking a master's degree in computer science from Bradley University, a small private school in Peoria, Illinois.

The government says he had other plans.

According to court documents citing multiple intelligence sources, al-Marri spent months in al Qaeda training camps during the late 1990s and was schooled in the science of poisons. The summer before al-Marri left for the United States, he allegedly met with Osama bin Laden and Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The two al Qaeda leaders decided al-Marri would make a perfect sleeper agent and rushed him into the U.S. before Sept. 11, the government says.

A computer specialist, al-Marri was ordered to wreak havoc on the U.S. banking system and serve as a liaison for other al Qaeda operatives entering this country, according to a court document filed by Jeffrey Rapp, a senior member of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

According to Rapp, al-Marri received up to $13,000 for his trip, plus money to buy a laptop, courtesy of Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi, who is suspected of helping finance the Sept. 11 attacks.

A week after the attacks, Congress unanimously passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force. It gave President George W. Bush the power to "use all necessary and appropriate force" against anyone involved in planning, aiding or carrying out the attacks.

The FBI interviewed al-Marri that October and arrested him in December as part of the Sept. 11 investigation. He rarely had been attending classes and was failing in school, the government said.

When investigators looked through his computer files, they found information on industrial chemical suppliers, sermons by bin Laden, how-to guides for making hydrogen cyanide and information about chemicals labeled "immediately dangerous to life or health," according to Rapp's court filing. Phone calls and e-mails linked al-Marri to senior al Qaeda leaders.

In early 2003, he was indicted on charges of credit card fraud and lying to the FBI. Like anyone else in the United States, he had constitutional rights. He could question government witnesses, refuse to testify and retain a lawyer.

On June 23, 2003, President Bush declared al-Marri an enemy combatant, which stripped him of those rights. Mr. Bush wrote that al-Marri possessed intelligence vital to protect national security. In his jail cell in Peoria, however, he could refuse to speak with investigators.

A military jail allowed more options. Free from the constraints of civilian law, the military could interrogate al-Marri without a lawyer, detain him without charge and hold him indefinitely. Courts have agreed the president has wide latitude to imprison people captured overseas or caught fighting against the U.S. That is what the prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba is for.

But al-Marri was not in Guantanamo Bay.

"The president is not a king and cannot lock people up forever in the United States based on his say-so," said Jonathan Hafetz, a lawyer who represents al-Marri and other detainees. "Today it's Mr. al-Marri. Tomorrow it could be you, a member of your family, someone you know. Once you allow the president to lock people up for years or even life without trial, there's no going back."

Glenn Sulmasy, a national security fellow at Harvard University, said the issue comes down to whether the nation is at war. Soldiers would not need warrants to launch a strike against invading troops. So would they need a warrant to raid an al Qaeda safe house in a U.S. suburb?

Sulmasy says no. That is how Congress wrote the bill and "if they feel concerned about civil liberties, they can tighten up the language," he said.

That would require the politically risky move of pushing legislation to make it harder for the president to detain suspected terrorists inside the U.S.

[dragon8me]

The only Terrorist we need to fear are the Administration, and Congress is guilty for aiding the enemy by not impeaching Cheney and Bush. We have lost our freedom and the media is just propagandist for these people. If you don''t like what''s happening just wait, theres more. Ever hear of Plan 2000?

[watcher269-2009]

Can Anyone Be An "Enemy Combatant"?

YES

BUSH and Cheney! Enemies of America and Americans!

[undermyboot]

Bush, the neocons, and their supporters are true students of history. They have learned lessons taught by some significant past political leaders and observers. For example:

"The easiest way to gain control of a population is to carry out acts of terror. [The public] will clamor for such laws if their personal security is threatened".- Joseph Stalin

"Terrorism is the best political weapon for nothing drives people harder than a fear of sudden death". - Adolph Hitler

"...the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." - Hermann Goering, Nazi leader
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis

Perhaps Bush himself said it best;

"A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there''s no question about it." G.W. Bush
Source: Business Week Online, "A Gentleman''s "C" for W," Richard S. Dunham, July 30, 2001

Ann Coulter waxed eloquent..."My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building."

[michellem99-2009]

We were taught a different America in the 60s and 70s. Yep. It was the America I grew up knowing and Dad,Uncle served. One man changed the nation to fit him and his family. Today I pity America..

[caldwellptr]

"Can Anyone Be An "Enemy Combatant"
I am interested in the contrast between the response to domestic terrorism - Oklahoma City, and foreign terroism - 9/11. Domestic terrorism did not seem to undo America as foreign terrorism has.

[algoresarse]

Posted by TawpDawg11 at 11:42 AM : May 25, 2008
+ report abuse
******

for a terrorist ..or those criminaly minded..YES A LOT HAVE CHANGED

[tawpdawg11]

Without tanks, armies, navies, air forces, generals, countries, etc is al-durka-durka really anything other than regular criminals, albeit dangerous ones?

When did we begin, exactly, to deny rights to those who COULD be innocent? If there is a preponderence of evidence for guilt, then a jury will decide, as our nation of laws has functioned since its inception.

We were taught of a VERY different America in middle and high school American history and civics.


Should we teach our children the new reality in class? Or should we go back to what got us to the year 2000?


Just some questions. My, have things changed DRASTICALLY in 7 years.

[algoresarse]

is that even a question..well it is from AP..the most liberal tabloid source..

after all we had seen in the past...i would say yes..if they can control a camel..they would shove bombs up its arse and use it as a suicide bomber..

[missingamerica]

[bq]
Sulmasy says no. That is how Congress wrote the bill and "if they feel concerned about civil liberties, they can tighten up the language," he said.
[eq]

And that is the singular most important reason that our Congress has been a screw-up for eight straight years: They failed to understand that they are dealing with an Administration that has no concept of honor.

This Administration is NOT a group of people with whom you can seal a deal "with a handshake and a smile".

By failing to nail down the parameters of the behavior that they - and America - would permit from this Administration with iron-clad Law, Congress enabled this Administration to steal a mile every single time that they only intended to give them an inch.

I''d further note that you can look at Gonzales and other examples from this Administration, and quickly determine that the greatest internal threat to America today is the legal profession.

I mean, c''mon...a whole Presidency whose every shady move is accomplished by using lawyers to find them loopholes in the Law?

[bobnjersey]

[Take a look at the picture above, that guy has the face of an al-qaeda operative ...]
[Posted by BagdadsHere at 08:34 AM : May 25, 2008]

well ... if you give him a guitar and put him in front of a microphone ... he''d could pass for a country music award nominee ... without his hat on.

[lochlan-2009]

"The government says the president needs this power to keep the nation safe."

Translation: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
-- Benjamin Franklin

[tootall10142]

The UNITED STATES NEEDS TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA PAY THE MEXICAN GOVT. TO GROW IT AND ASSASINATE ON THE SPOT ANY ONE CAUGHT WITH ANY THING CONTRA-BAND AS RELATED TO DRUG ACTIVITY.STILL WAITING ON THAT CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS.

[tootall10142]

Is it time for that drink ? What is the hold up?i value a good drink of single higher than i do this piece of pond scum.Need a volunteer?

[tootall10142]

just shoot the sob and lets go have a drink.

[bobnjersey]

[A computer specialist, al-Marri was ordered to wreak havoc on the U.S. banking system and serve as a liaison for other al Qaeda operatives ]

we have plenty of ''specialists'' already here to wreak havoc on the banking system ... we''re doing just fine w/ that ourselves. we''ll let them know when we need their help.

[bobnjersey]

[The government has our best interests at heart. Trust them.]
[Posted by studio41 at 12:30 AM : May 25, 2008]

not much a student of history ... are we?

[jjp735i]

The problem is Bush''s track record for lying and for using false intelligence or twisted intelligence to scare people into giving him what he wants. If there is truly evidence to prove this charge, then let the courts handle this case and let the evidence prove him guilty or innocent.

No one should have the power to just take someone and lock them up in the U.S.A. After all, is this not the type of governments we are now fighting against?

[r9119111]

Why let civil rights and the Constitution get in the way of what the Bush Administration wishes to do? The government has our best interests at heart. Trust them.

Posted by studio41 at 12:30 AM : May 25, 2008

You are entitled to your opinion, however, you are a very foolish person considering increasing evidence to the contrary. Please think more about it again and again until you realize how foolish you really are.

[undermyboot]

American who support the destruction of our liberty are pathetic. The neocons and their totalitarian supporters trot out pictures of impotent morons like this terrorist and wave the pictures wildly. "See this scary guy? Be afraid! Give us your liberty so this scary boogeyman will not hurt you!" And the morons who listen and believe say, "Yes, we are cowards and our safety is more important than our principles or our liberty. Please let us kiss your feet Lord Bush. You are our King and Master and will protect us from the scary Islamoboogeyman." ROFLMAO

These people do not DESERVE to be called Americans. They are ignorant cowards and children.

[dontbasucka]

Yeah CBS the Communist Broadcasting System has our best interests at heart. The 3 major networks plus PBS and most newspapers and magazines like Time, Newsweek, US NEWS & World Report couldn''t give a right leaning story because their major funding would cease. They love their money so don''t ever beleive they have your best interest at heart with these a$$inine stories. Anything to hamstring and trip America is what you can depend on here.