By Gary Dickson —
I cannot believe that even the most ardent Barack Obama supporter during the election campaign that culminated in his election as President in 2008 would have thought, back then, that the charismatic candidate with the message of “Hope and change” would sink to the level of signing the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act. It includes a provision allowing the indefinite detention of American citizens.
It is true that the President issued a signing statement in which he wrote, “My administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens ? Indeed, I believe that doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a nation.” So, it begs the question as to why he signed the bill in the first place.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, was not fooled, though. In a congressional debate he strongly made the point that it was the Obama administration that requested that the language of the section that deals with detention. Levin said that the original wording of the bill did not include the wording that allows the government to detain American citizens indefinitely. He said that Obama administration officials demanded the wording to be changed to include American citizens. A story on the website “The Big Picture” stated, “Specifically, it was Obama – not Congress ? who originally requested that an exception for American citizens be removed from the bill. As such, his professed reluctance is wholly disingenuous.
Even the ACLU has blasted the President”s action of signing, rather than vetoing the bill. Anthony D. Romero, ACLU executive director, stated, “President Obama”s action today is a blight on his legacy because he will forever be known as the president who signed indefinite detention without charge or trial into law. The statute is particularly dangerous because it has no temporal or geographic limitations, and can be used by this and future presidents to militarily detain people captured far from any battlefield. The ACLU will fight worldwide detention authority wherever we can, be it in court, in Congress, or internationally.”
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is not a new or one time only piece of legislation. It has been signed into law for the past 49 years to stipulate what the Department of Defense is allowed to spend in the coming year. It was just that this year”s NDAA is the first one to contain a clause that makes it legal for the United States military to arrest and indefinitely detain U.S. citizens on a worldwide basis.
The possibility of military detention of American citizens is something that would have the Founding Fathers spinning in their graves. The thought of arresting U.S. citizens and detaining them indefinitely, without the right to a speedy trial, which is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution, is making U.S. citizens angry all across America .
California Senator Diane Feinstein has already taken a positive action to right this wrong. Within hours of the Senate”s passage of the 2012 NDAA Feinstein, with a number of co-sponsors, introduced the Due Process Guarantee Act of 2011. Its stated purpose is to “To clarify that an authorization to use military force, a declaration of war, or any similar authority shall not authorize the detention without charge or trial of a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States and for other purposes.”
How is it possible that America has deteriorated this far? How is it possible that a Congress, elected by American citizens who would never approve of such an action, would vote to pass the NDAA with the indefinite detention provision? How could an American President sign such a bill? These are questions that need answers.
Americans need to let their members of Congress know what they think about this issue. One easy way is to go to: act.demandprogress.org/letter/ndaa_reversal/. There you can send a letter to Congress asking them to support Sen. Feinstein”s bill.
Gary Dickson is the publisher of the Record-Bee. Call him at 263-5636, ext. 24. Email him at gdickson@record-bee.com.
