Senate GOP'ers Unveil Comprehensive Detainee Legislation

By Anna Cameron

Thursday, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and fellow Republican colleagues followed the example set by House Armed Services Committee chairman Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) earlier this week, as they, too, introduced legislation focused on military detention reform.

“Nearly ten years after 9/11, our nation still does not have a rational detainee policy,” noted Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). “That is simply unacceptable.”

The Military Detainee Procedures Improvement Act is designed to reaffirm and coincide with the Authorization for Use of Military Force that was enacted under President George W. Bush in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

“It has become clear in the past several years that not having a long-term detention policy is no solution for fighting terrorism,” said Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) “Faced with a recidivism rate of more than 25 percent, we must get serious about minimizing the threat [of] former GTMO detainees.”

Among the bills that comprise the comprehensive detainee policy is a detention procedures bill, an interrogation bill and a habeas bill, as well as an initiative concerning the trial of 9/11 orchestrator Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM).

“The Administration has badly managed the trial of KSM and the 9/11 conspirators,” Graham said. “[He] should not face trial by military commission [or] federal district court. Under the Laws of War, he is not entitled to the same constitutional rights as an American citizen.”

Both the Senate detainee legislation and the House bill introduced Wednesday by Rep. McKeon follow President Obama’s signing of an executive order allowing for the indefinite detention without trial of Guantanamo Bay prisoners.

“The President’s decisions to hold Guantanamo detainees who are still at war with the United States until the end of hostilities and his decision to refer new charges to military commissions are moves in the right direction,” said Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.). “However, there is still much more work to do.”

Sen. McCain informed reporters that in speaking with Rep. McKeon Wednesday, he is hopeful of reaching continuity between the Senate and House bills.

“We are going to embark on an effort to see if we can resolve the differences, which are not significant, between the two bills,” said McCain. “Obviously having the same bill come out of the House Armed Services Committee, that we would also support over here, would enhance its chances of passage.”

Ex CIA Director: Mubarak's Ouster Offers "Great Hope" For Future

By Anna Cameron

Former CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden said Wednesday that recent events in the Arab world, particularly the revolution in Egypt, represent instances of “great hope” in long-term counterterrorism efforts.

“Here is a vision for the future, for particularly the Arab Islamic world, that has nothing to do with al Qaeda’s vision for the future,” Hayden said of the Egyptian protests. “It is not some view of transcendental religion descending upon man and directing all action. It is empowerment from people through popular choice.”

Though the United States has been effective in tracking and eliminating threats that come from those already committed to executing terrorist attacks, Hayden stressed the importance of improving the identification of new threats and sources of terrorist recruitment.

“We have to deal with the long battle that has to do with the production rate of people who want to come kill us,” Hayden said. “These changes give us the opportunity.”

Notable counterterrorism experts Captain Glenn Sulmasy of the U.S Coast Guard Academy, and Marc Thiessen, chief speechwriter to both President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, appeared alongside Hayden Wednesday to discuss a new counterterrorism agenda for Congress.

While Hayden highlighted the parallels between the Bush and Obama administrations in terms of counterterrorism policy, all three panelists emphasized the need for reform in Congress’ approach to an “intelligence driven war on al Qaeda.”

“We seem to be in a position where we are not capturing high value detainees. This is a conscious choice by the president to kill rather than capture senior terrorist leaders,” said Thiessen. “Our time for dining out on the successes of the Bush administration’s interrogation policy under the Obama administration is [running out]. We need to start replenishing that strategic intelligence or we’re going to get hit.”

Counterterrorism Chief Defends Record

By A.J. Swartwood

In response to rising criticisms that the American counterterrorism team has been more lucky than good in the last year, Michael Leiter, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, argued Wednesday morning that good intelligence, hard work, and dedication help officials make their own luck.

“No single tool… will stop all the attacks, but as a whole they create a system that reduces the likelihood of terrorist success, and that is the luck that we are working to create,” said Leiter, who invoked Thomas Jefferson’s quote, ” I find the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.”

With the recent arrests in Portland related to attempted terrorist plot and a seemingly constant stream of threats, Leiter acknowledged the “frenetic” pace of attempted attacks over the last year, but reiterated that the pieces are in place to reduce the risk of attacks to the fullest extent possible.

Leiter conceded that counterterrorism will never be perfected, nor can a terror free future be expected, but that does not mean the NCTC or the American government does not set that as their goal.

“We aim for perfection, but perfection will not be achieved,” he conceded. “But to say that we will not successfully stop all terrorist attacks is certainly not to say we are not trying to stop all attacks, we are.”

House Armed Services Chair Backs McChrystal's Afghan Strategy

By Meagan Wiseley - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

In a hearing Wednesday before the House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) and Ranking member Howard McKeon (R-Calif.) said they both strongly support General Stanley McChrystal’s proposed counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy in Afghanistan and have sent a letter to McChrystal requesting him to testify before the Committee.

Retired U.S. Army General Jack Keane echoed a similar sentiment during his testimony before the committee, saying the U.S. must “put in play a COIN strategy with the appropriate military, civilian and financial resources.”

Gen. Keane, who retired in 2003, described the U.S. attempt of counter-terrorism (CT) in Iraq between 2003-2007 and said during that period of time “we were failing and we nearly lost the country.” He says the situation in Afghanistan has "simply gotten worse” because of the CT strategy being used in currently. He believes CT strategies are valuable, but must be used as a compliment to a “fully integrated civil-military counterinsurgency strategy.”

Gen. Keane cautioned the use of a COIN strategy without the proper amount of troops or resources saying it will “fail and fail miserably.”

However, a voice of dissent came from Dr. Paul Pillar, former Deputy Directory of the CIA’s Counter-terrorist Center, who instead believes the U.S. should avoid bolstering its military presence.

"An expanded military effort in the cause of counterinsurgency in Afghanistan would be unwarranted," Pillar said. The former CIA official went on to say he believes the cost of counterinsurgency, U.S. equities, monetary resources and American lives, would outweigh the benefit.

"Last week the President told members of congress that his decision [on the war in Afghanistan] will be timely," McKeon said during the hearing's close. "My hope and expectation is that the President will make a decision on resources in the coming week and stick with it."

"Time is of the essence,” McKeon added.

Petraeus: Beating Terrorists Requires More Than Counterterrorist Operations

By Celia Canon- Talk Radio News Service

General David Petraeus, Commander of the United States Central Command, warned that military missions against terrorist groups are comprehensive and require more than force.

 “Countering terrorism requires more than counter-terrorist operations,” said Petraeus today in a speech to the Center of a New American Security.  The General went on to discuss the implications of shifting military attention from Iraq to Afghanistan and Pakistan and how the U.S.’ experience in Iraq should optimize the efficiency of military operations in other countries.

“As we turn and shift our focus to Afghanistan and Pakistan it is very important to reflect on what we learned from Iraq and to remember that you have to apply what was learned there with a very nuanced understanding...of local circumstances,” said Petraeus.

Petraeus was one of the leading figures during the 2007 surge of U.S. troops in Iraq, a move that increased U.S. military capability in the Middle East by more than 20,000 soldiers and additional brigades. The surge was instrumental in the counterinsurgency mission that would help secure the region. Petraeus completed his work in Iraq by rebuilding the Iraqi army. 

Petraeus highlighted the success of the U.S. army in improving security conditions, stating “We’ve gone from a situation in which June of 2006 or 2007 saw 160 attacks per day on average. in Iraq it is now between 10 and 15 attacks per day and has been that way for about 6 months now; in fact in the low end of that in recent weeks.”

However, Petraeus did concede that last month was an exception. There were over 400 attacks in May, the highest in the country’s post-invasion history.

The General touched upon the peacekeeping role that the army has recently acquired with the Iraq mission and named the safety of the civilian population as a major priority.

“The overriding mission of a military force in counterinsurgency has to be to secure the people and...be seen as securing and serving them. This is hugely important,” said Petraeus.

Petraeus explained that once security has been established throughout the country, the U.S. would not be able to leave Afghanistan until they have assured that the established government follows a peace-ensuring criteria.