Obama Ditches Bush Term "Enemy Combatant"

Justice Dept. Says Authority To Hold Detainees Comes From Congress And International Laws, Not President

(AP)  The Obama administration said Friday that it is abandoning one of President George W. Bush's key phrases in the war on terrorism: enemy combatant

The Justice Department said in legal filings that it will no longer use the term to justify holding prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

But that's won't change much for the detainees at the U.S. naval base in Cuba - Mr. Obama still asserts the military's authority to hold them. But his Justice Department says that authority comes from Congress and the international laws of war, not from the president's own wartime power as Bush had argued.

In another court filing Thursday, the Obama administration tried to protect top Bush administration military officials from lawsuits brought by prisoners who say they were tortured while being held at Guantanamo Bay.

The Obama administration's position on use of the phrase "enemy combatants" came in response to a deadline by U.S. District Judge John Bates, who is overseeing lawsuits of detainees challenging their detention. Bates asked the administration to give its definition of whom the United States may hold as an "enemy combatant."

The filing back's Bush's stance on the authority to hold detainees, even if they were not captured on the battlefield in the course of hostilities. In their lawsuits, detainees have argued that only those who directly participated in hostilities should be held.

"The argument should be rejected," the Justice Department said in its filing. "Law-of-war principles do not limit the United States' detention authority to this limited category of individuals. A contrary conclusion would improperly reward an enemy that violates the laws of war by operating as a loose network and camouflaging its forces as civilians."

Retired Army Lt. Col. Stephen Abraham, a former Guantanamo official who has since become critical of the legal process, said it's a change in nothing but semantics.

"There's absolutely no change in the definition," Abraham said in a telephone interview. "To say this is a kinder more benevolent sense of justice is absolutely false. ... I think the only thing they've done is try to separate themselves from the energy of the debate" by eliminating Bush's phrasing.

Attorney General Eric Holder also submitted a declaration to the court outlining Mr. Obama's efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility within a year and determine where to place the 240 people held there. He said there could be "further refinements" to the administration's position as that process goes on.

"Promptly determining the appropriate disposition of those detained at Guantanamo Bay is a high priority for the president," Holder wrote.

The Justice Department says prisoners can only be detained if their support for al Qaeda, the Taliban or "associated forces" was "substantial." But it does not define the terms.

"The particular facts and circumstances justifying detention will vary from case to case, and may require the identification and analysis of various analogues from traditional international armed conflicts," the government lawyers wrote. "Accordingly, the contours of the `substantial support' and `associated forces' bases of detention will need to be further developed in their application to concrete facts in individual cases."

On the topic of former administration officials, the Justice Department argued in a filing with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that holding military officials liable for their treatment of prisoners could cause them to make future decisions based on fear of litigation rather than appropriate military policy.

The suit before the appeals court was brought by four British citizens - Shafiq Rasul, Asif Iqbal, Rhuhel Ahmed and Jamal Al-Harith - who were sent back to Great Britain in 2004. The defendants in the case include former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and retired Gen. Richard Myers, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The men say they were beaten, shackled in painful stress positions and threatened by dogs during their time at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. They also say they were harassed while practicing their religion, including forced shaving of their beards, banning or interrupting their prayers, denying them copies of the Koran and prayer mats and throwing a copy of the Koran in a toilet.

They contend in their lawsuit that the treatment violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which provides that the "government shall not substantially burden a person's exercise of religion."

The appeals court ruled against them early last year, saying because the men were foreigners held outside the United States, they do not fall within the definition of a "person" protected by the act.

But later in the year, the Supreme Court ruled that Guantanamo detainees have some rights under the Constitution. So the Supreme Court instructed the appeals court to reconsider the lawsuit in light of their decision.

Eric Lewis, attorney for the four, said Friday that military officials should be subject to liability when they order torture.

"The upshot of the Justice Department's position is that there is no right of detainees not to be tortured and that officials who order torture should be protected," Lewis said.

Last month in another court filing, the Justice Department sided with the Bush White House by arguing that detainees at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan have no constitutional rights.

[von_marko]

Obama says they're no longer called "Enemy Combatants" they are now known as friends of the president.. or my Arab Brothers..

O-Duma just keeps getting dumber as the days pass...
Posted by cornbiker at 2:17 PM : Mar 13, 2009
+ report abuse + permalink

Obama says they're no longer called "Enemy Combatants." They're now known as "Cabinet Members."
Posted by renojmc at 2:09 PM : Mar 13, 200

[aziridine]

Of course these folks aren't "Enemy Combatants". To Obama they are "Fellow Muslims in the Service of Allah"!

[ianlou]

Here's another term we can get rid of from the Bush years:

"New-Clear Weapons"

[ianlou]

Obama Ditches Bush Term "Enemy Combatant"

Good, with Dubya's obvious lack of ability to speak English, or vocalize thoughts in a sentence format, he has no business creating new terms for the ages.

[oftencensord]

What better word can you use instead of "Abortion" ? What word can you use for illegal campaign contributions? Can we find a better phrase for reverse discrimination than "Affirmative action"? Let's not call them illegal immigrants, rather undocumented workers... Lets not use the word crime, since we are all the victims, it is really just opportunity.

[whosaid1]

liberal approach............"just say it ain't so, and it won't be". Can't we just all get along??? Please like me.....

[everlaw01]

a rose by anyother name still smells the same...

[promaclaura]

I don't recall "torture", "spying on American citizens", or "secret prisons" as being considered to be "American values".
Posted by hungry1968-15 at 7:11 AM : Mar 14, 2009

I would like to know what Americans have been "tortured, spyed on, or held in a secret prison? After all, this is what all the posters are worried about right? American rights and their loss is the focus of all this upset, correct? So where is the poster child for all the rights lost? I haven't seen any yet, so are we going to use "terrorists/enemy combatants as our "poster child" for American rights? Pretty weird if you ask me.

[hungry1968-15]

Hi, hungry, how's it going? Say, just what idiotic idea did antioine come up with now?? First he wants to make the 33 into a tunnel and now he's come up with another doozy. Come on, you have an in with the Buffalo political elite. Share.
As for your post, same old, same old. Do a bit of research there koolaid drinker and you'll see nothing has changed but the name. But hey, that's all the libs have to do, change the terminology. LEEMING!
Posted by janem4 at 7:33 AM : Mar 14, 2009





Dude - I have no idea what that clown is up to.

Paid days off, if you have kids that go to school?

No wonder this state is so shot to hell!!

[promaclaura]

Retired Army Lt. Col. Stephen Abraham, a former Guantanamo official who has since become critical of the legal process, said it's a change in nothing but semantics.

"There's absolutely no change in the definition," Abraham said in a telephone interview. "To say this is a kinder more benevolent sense of justice is absolutely false. ... I think the only thing they've done is try to separate themselves from the energy of the debate" by eliminating Bush's phrasing

-Changing the wording is exciting to some, they think they have won something. I think Barack is finding it hard to conduct business and separate himself from Bush. It looks like he is continuing a lot of Bush policy, just changing the wording to satisfy the teeth gnashers.

[hungry1968-15]

Combatants are obliged to distinguish themselves from the civilian populace by some means it does not matter who invaded who.
Posted by mav547166 at 6:55 AM : Mar 14, 2009





LOL!!!!

So now you're saying that they couldn't fight our troops, until they "dressed properly"?!?!?


ROFLMAO!!!!

Stop, please stop!!!

[1American]

You think standing up for the things our fathers fought and died for is taking the "Chamberlain approach"? No wonder the people of this nation have turned on you in the Radical Right! Please stop the shaking and grow a back bone!! skyk-2009

And when has Obama done this?

[hungry1968-15]

You are absolutely correct, and only psychotic anti-American nutcases like hungry1968 and others on this forum will follow him to their death, due to their intense hatred of American values and our way of living. They will all follow Obama off a cliff. This is the same thing the Nazis did for Hitler.
Posted by WereNotGonnaTakeIT at 6:54 AM : Mar 14, 2009






I don't recall "torture", "spying on American citizens", or "secret prisons" as being considered to be "American values".

[WereNotGonnaTakeIT]

I just want you to pick up a weapon and break the law. Then it's a win-win situation for everyone, except you. :)
Posted by cs4466 at 12:58 AM : Mar 14, 2009

It's not a crime to pick up a weapon and defend your country from communism, dumb dumb. And I can promise you that is what will happen if you Obama-communist lovers continue to try to push your totalitarian world view on the people of the United States. So if this is what you want, keep pushing it, and you'll end up getting your wish eventually, it's just the reality of it all.

Because TRUE Americans will refuse to bow down to Communism.

[mav547166]

Combatants are obliged to distinguish themselves from the civilian populace by some means it does not matter who invaded who.

[skyk-2009]

Im sure that President Obama will do ok by taking the Chamberlain approach to war. Im just glad I don't live in a city, after all it was only republicans that died in the WTC right?
Posted by mav547166 at 5:53 AM : Mar 14, 2009

You think standing up for the things our fathers fought and died for is taking the "Chamberlain approach"? No wonder the people of this nation have turned on you in the Radical Right! Please stop the shaking and grow a back bone!!

[WereNotGonnaTakeIT]

OUR President is a LIAR
Posted by mdmo1

You are absolutely correct, and only psychotic anti-American nutcases like hungry1968 and others on this forum will follow him to their death, due to their intense hatred of American values and our way of living. They will all follow Obama off a cliff. This is the same thing the Nazis did for Hitler.

[skyk-2009]

When Bush came up with this dodge it made me really uncomfortable. In effect what they were saying is they could brand anyone in this nation as an "Enemy Combatant" and hold them indefinitely without any trial or any charges. I remember the bad old days of Watergate and what can happen when you have a leader out of control. Glad the President is putting us back where we belong on these matters.

[WereNotGonnaTakeIT]

The sad part about it there are millions just like the idiot above in this country that no longer have any values or morals
posted by grumpas

-Good job describing Barak Hussein Obama grumpas! It's about time!

[hungry1968-15]

Hmmm Im sure that after your many tours over in Afghanistan you missed the Afghan Army, or Police but your the expert
Posted by mav547166 at 6:31 AM : Mar 14, 2009






And where exactly do you think the Afghan police and army got their uniforms?

From the Americans AFTER we invaded, and created their army and police forces from scratch!!!

Duh!