Attorney General: Enemy combatants have constitutional right to challenge their detention

Attorney General Michael Mukasey speaking at the American Enterprise Institute [AEI] today called on Congress to act on detainees at Guantanamo Bay possibly trying to usurp the court system. Under the rules of habeas corpus, the 270 detainees at Guantanamo Bay have a constitutional right to challenge their detentions. The overriding issue facing the judicial system at the moment is when they are allowed to pursue legal action under habeas corpus. Mukasey called on Congress to draft legislation that would “act to resolve these difficult questions that have been left unanswered.”

Mukasey believes that under the modernization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [FISA] the next administration will have what they need to “get the job done,” said Mukasey. According to Mukasey, the passage and ultimate signature of the president on FISA “shows how our branches of government can work together.” But Mukasey was quick to reiterate the administrations support not only on FISA but on detaining enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay. “The United States has every right to detain enemy combatants who wish the United States harm,” said Mukasey.

Aiming more of his remarks at Congress Mukasey called on Congress to “reaffirm for the duration of the conflict [In Iraq and Afghanistan] the ability to detain enemy combatants.” Mukasey closed by saying that “Congress should make sure that the detainees cannot use other alternatives to challenge their detainment.”

Another Warning for Medicare?

The American enterprise Institute (AEI) held a conference today discussing the future of Medicare. The speakers present were Robert L. Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, Richard S. Foster, chief actuary for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS), Robert B. Helms, resident scholar in health policy studies at AEI and Gail Wilensky, senior fellow at Project HOPE, which is an international health organization.

The panel discussed the importance of letting the Congress aware of the Medicare social security and urging them to act upon it. The panel also touched upon the disagreements of Democrats and Republicans upon the previously mentioned social security. They suggested a bipartisan solution to this problem, and that it will only be solved when both parties arrange a single conference discussing and planning the future of Medicare, by using more competitive elements.

Another important issue, which was brought up by Gail Wilensky, was the retirement age
of the population. As the average death age has increased, 65 is too early to retire and all benefits that the Medicare brings is more costly. Thus a new retirement age should be discussed in order to solve this problem.

Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid occupy a 42 per cent ($1.3 trillion) of the Federal budget, whereas 58 per cent ($1.6 trillion) is spent on other Federal issues

AEI discussion Iranian influence in the Middle East

At the The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI) discussion on "Iranian Influence in the Middle East and Beyond," Danielle Pletka of AEI said looking at the Iranian "reach" from the past helps us gets some insight into the regime’s intent in Iraq. There are a lot of telling signs of change, she said, using as an example the economy in Syria, and how Iran is becoming a dominant role there. Iran imports weapons from Russia, and then provides them to Syria, she said. In regards to Iran’s relationship with Hezbollah, they provide diplomatic, military, and economic support. They have taken a ‘very prominent role’ in the re-armament of the Lebanese.

Kimberly Kagan, President of the Institute for the Study of War, said Iran has been a force of instability in Iraq since 2003. Beyond discussion of weapons, she said, there are a lot of other influences, and that the provision of weapons is just one leg of the story. What is surprising in Iranian policy, she said, is the creation of the secret cells which have become an independent entity. The Iranian and Hezbollah Connection to special Groups in Iraq have been reorganized, Kagan said. She said they have been watching more advisers operating across Iraq to keep the militia running.

Frederick Kagan of AEI said one of the things that is an issue is Iranian weapons supplied to Afghanistan. Too often in a discussion, he said, people tend to look at the regime of Iran from their own point of view. A very important issue, he said, is the Afghanistan refugees in Iran. On the one hand, he said, they have let the Afghans move pretty freely and in general terms have treated them very well, but recently have decided that "enough is enough." In April 2007, Iran began a process of rounding up refugees and migrant workers and "dumping them" in Afghanistan without notifying the Afghan government.