McCain And Lieberman Propose Legislation For Indefinite Detention

By Laurel Brishel Prichard University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service

Legislation to hold “high value detainees” for a indefinite amount of time was introduced Thursday by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).

“This legislation seeks to ensure that the mistakes made during the apprehension of the Christmas Day bomber, such as reading him his Miranda warning, will never happen again and put Americans’ security at risk,” said McCain, referencing the attempted bombing aboard a commercial aircraft by a young Nigerian man last December.

The introduction of the bill has sparked controversy among numerous human rights organizations, with many claiming that the legislation undermines the constitution.

“Our criminal justice system has proved repeatedly that it is capable of obtaining reliable intelligence from terrorism suspects, while that has not always been the case when we throw detainees into secret detentions and discard all the rules,” said Christopher Anders, the American Civil Liberties Union's Senior Legislative Counsel. “The Constitution is not optional despite the efforts of these senators to render it so.”

If enacted, the bill would ask the president to create a interagency task force to examine the suspect and decide within 48 hours if they are ‘unprivileged.' If the suspect is found to be ‘unprivileged,’ they would be held regardless of whether or not criminal charges are filed.

The task force would meet with the Secretary of Defense, Attorney General and the directors of the FBI and CIA to make final determinations as to the detainees' status.

“Under these circumstances, actionable intelligence must be our highest priority and criminal prosecution must be secondary,” according to a statement released by McCain.

Bill To Cut Off Funding For Kahlid Sheikh Mohammed Trial Finds Bipartisan Support

By ChingYu Wang-Talk Radio News Service

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), along with a bipartisan collection of Senators, announced a bill Tuesday to deny federal funding for the trials of 9/11 conspirators if they take place in a New York City civilian court.

"Why in the world would this country take the people who planned 9/11, put them in the middle of 8 million people in New York City, less than 2 miles from where they attacked the country, and think that's a good thing?" Graham asked.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) expressed concern over the heavy financial burden the trials could pose to taxpayers, saying that costs could be in the millions.

"The president's budget that was released yesterday shows how much these decisions will cost American tax payers. In the budget, the Justice Department has given almost $75 million to assist with transferring prosecutions of Guantanamo detainees," said Lieberman.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) stressed that a military tribunal was the only solution to the problem.

"The fact is, we should not try these people in New York, we shouldn't try them in Illinios, we shouldn't try them in Pheonix. We should try them in a court room, in Guantanamo Bay, and we should try them according to the military commission's act. That's the frost and intent of this legislation," said McCain.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) agreed that it is inappropriate to try the terrorists in major cities due to their war criminal identities.

"I believe these individuals are war criminals," said Lincoln. "Trying these conspirators in civilian court is giving them a public stage to advocate their cause. Carrying out the civilian trials also has the potential, I think, to compromise classified intelligence and put our national security at great risk."

McCain Calls For Surge In Afghanistan

Travis Martinez, University of New Mexico - Talk Radio News Service

John McCain (R-Ariz.) stated Wednesday that he agreed with General Stanley McChrystal’s assessment that the efforts in Afghanistan are deteriorating and called for an increase of U.S. forces in the country.

“There has to be a surge, there has to be a significant increase in troops on the ground and there has to be an overall strategy such as employed in Iraq, adaptive to Afghanistan,” McCain said during a press conference with Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich) on the contents of the National Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 conference report.

Both McCain and Levin went on to outline their views of the report.

“The conference report on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 reflects almost all of the decisions of the Secretary of Defense and the President to terminate troubled programs, delay programs for which requirements are not yet defined, and reorient programs and systems to deal with today’s threats and apply the lessons gained from more than seven years of war,” said Levin.

“I am happy to support the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 conference report which funds the needs and requirements of our brave men and women in uniform to succeed in their mission," McCain said. "I am disappointed that this year’s conference report includes hate crimes legislation, which I continue to oppose, and funding for continued development of the alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter."

McCain Urges Quick Action On Plan For More Troops In Afghanistan

By Julianne LaJeunesse - University of New Mexico

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) spoke Tuesday about American international policies in a conference hosted by the Foreign Policy Initiative, an organization that rejects U.S. policies "that would lead us down the path of isolation."

During a speech entitled, "Advancing and Defending Democracy," McCain said that President Obama is admirable for keeping his composure during intensifying U.S. international commitments, but added that he disagreed with the President's recent decision to scrap its plans for a European missile defense shield. Said McCain, America should maintain loyalties to people and plans.

When asked by moderator and Foreign Policy Initiative Founder Bob Kagan about the time it's taking to implement a military plan in Afghanistan, McCain said the longer it takes to get troops there, the more strapped the plan becomes.

"You make a decision to do something, for example, to deploy troops... it takes a period of time before you get them over there," McCain said. "It's not a matter of just putting them on a plane and flying them over. There's all of the equipment, all of the preparations, all of the things necessary for deployment of troops. So even if the President made the decision tomorrow, there would be a period of time where we still don't have sufficient troops to do what's necessary there."

McCain said troops in Afghanistan are necessary because "at least some of Americans may have forgotten that it was Afghanistan where Al Qaeda really received the training in order to orchestrate the attacks on United States of America on 9/11."

The senator said that America's sympathy for troop deployment in Aghanistan is waning and that Obama may have to follow previous leaders who have "gone against the majority of public opinion, either in their party or the country, because they were in times of crisis and they knew that they had to take certain actions."

McCain also commented on the Obama administration's recent system technology change from a planned "antiballistic missile shield" to a smaller SM-3 interceptor system in the Czech Republic and Poland, which he said was "technically correct," but added that "the handling of this issue is very harmful."

Military Commission Reform Will Produce A Fair And Just System Say Military Officials

By Laura Woodhead - Talk Radio News Service

A proposed reform to the manner in which foreign detainees are tried will ensure that prisoners receive treatment more in line with the U.S. judicial system, said military officials during their testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday.

"We are willing to be judged by what we are putting together today. You ought to feel very comfortable sending anybody to this commission process with these changes because we have what we believe to be a fair and just system," said Vice Admiral Bruce E MacDonald USN, Judge Advocate General of the United States Navy.

The hearing took place in response to the committee's proposed amendments to the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which have been included in the National Defense Authorization Bill for the 2010 fiscal year. The proposed changes would alter "a long list of problems" with military commissions so that they "provided basic guarantees of fairness identified by the Supreme Court", thereby eliminating the language that places the burden upon detainees to prove that 'hearsay' evidence against them is unreliable said Chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D- Mich.)

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I- Conn.) responded negatively to the proposed reform, warning that allowing detainees the right to a civilian trial would be affording them rights they simply do not deserve.

"We would be giving these terrorists greater protection in the federal courts than we given any other war criminal in our entire history...Yes it may be an act of murder that killed the people in the twin towers on 9/11, but it was [also] an act of war. The people that did that do not deserve constitutional protections of federal courts."

Sen. Graham (R - S.C) disagreed with Sen. Lieberman, saying that creating a hybrid situation that involved civilian courts and military commissions is the key, considering there is no clear end to the war on terrorism.

"That’s not being soft on terrorism, that’s applying American values to this war" he said.

Sen. John McCain (R- Ariz.) took a different view, asserting that it was not just what type of trial took place but where it was held. Sen. McCain repeatedly questioned the officials as to whether there would be a difference in the rights awarded to detainees if they were tried at Guantanamo Bay or in the continental U.S.

"I think it is important for this Committee to know when writing this legislation, if detainees would have all kinds of additional rights if tried in America as opposed to Guantanamo. I think the Committee and the American people should know that."

Chairman, Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said that this new legislation would address the "shortcomings of the existing law" in relation to tribunals.

However, he added, that the Government "will have a long way to go to restore public confidence in military commissions and the justice they produce."

Present at the hearing were Sen. Levin (D-Mich.), Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.), Sen. Lieberman (I – Conn.) , Sen. Reed (D- R.I.), Sen. Graham (R – Ga.), Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Sen. Martinez (R-Fla.), Sen. Udall (D- Colo.) and Sen. Hagan (D- N.C.)