WSJ: Obama may not release detainees even if they are acquitted (wtf???)

[LittleBlue]

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration said Tuesday it could continue to imprison non-U.S. citizens indefinitely even if they have been acquitted of terrorism charges by a U.S. military commission.

Jeh Johnson, the Defense Department's chief lawyer, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that releasing a detainee who has been tried and found not guilty was a policy decision that officials would make based on their estimate of whether the prisoner posed a future threat.

Like the Bush administration, the Obama administration argues that the legal basis for indefinite detention of aliens it considers dangerous is separate from war-crimes prosecutions. Officials say that the laws of war allow indefinite detention to prevent aliens from committing warlike acts in future, while prosecution by military commission aims to punish them for war crimes committed in the past.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124699680303307309.html?mod=googlenews_wsj


Can someone explain this??? How can the government detain indefinitely even if they are acquitted?

(I searched and didn't find this. Merge if it's a dup)

[Clio the Leo]

1. As soon as you can figure out a way......

... for President Obama to sign a Peace Treaty with Bin Laden, you'll have your answer. ;)

POWs are typically held until the war is over.

This is not your grandaddy's war.

[Webster Green]

3. That is bullshit!

There is no fucking war. Bin Laden is most likely dead.

The concept of holding people indefinitely, without charges, went out of fashion in the 13th century.

I will likely never vote again. It's a complete waste of time and energy. :banghead:

[Cali_Democrat]

5. The "war on terror" is a phony war

There will always be terrorists that want to kill Americans even long after Bin Laden is dead (if he isn't already). That means we may imprison acquitted detainees forever because there will always be a war on terror.

I'm sorry, but a perpetual war is not something I'm interested in.

[ThomCat]

8. Bullshit. If they are found not guilty they they don't work for Bin Laden

So holding them until because we can't "sign a Peace Treaty with Bin Laden" is effectively nullifying the not guilty verdict and finding them guilty by extra-judicial proclamation.

If they are not guilty then they should be free to go. Period.

If they have no safe place to go to because of OUR fighting and OUR "war on terror" then we have a moral obligation to find or create a safe place for them that IS NOT inside a prison.

At some point the excuses have to end and our country should do what is right. These are people, and they have lives that we have ripped apart.

[Oregone]

9. "This is not your grandaddy's war"

Exactly, which is why referencing POW policy is ludicrous.

It shouldn't even be a "war". These are crimes and we need police & investigators, not soldiers and bombs.

[WinkyDink]

11. "POW's"?? Caught on what battlefield? These are poor schlemiels swept off the streets.

[masuki bance]

2. Indefinite detention? What's the big deal?

At least they got their trial.

[Uzybone]

4. OMG recycled outrage!!

[vaberella]

6. +1. ~sigh~ n/t

[smoochpooch]

7. Totally fucked up.

If Lindsey Graham approves, you know it's a good idea.

:sarcasm:

[democracy1st]

10. I call BS I've been very critical of this dlc corp admin but I guarantee something is wrong

with this story

[Freddie Stubbs]

15. May 22: Obama Endorses Indefinite Detention Without Trial for Some

By Peter Finn
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 22, 2009

President Obama acknowledged publicly for the first time yesterday that some detainees at Guantanamo Bay may have to be held without trial indefinitely, siding with conservative national security advocates on one of the most contentious issues raised by the closing of the military prison in Cuba.

"We are going to exhaust every avenue that we have to prosecute those at Guantanamo who pose a danger to our country," Obama said. "But even when this process is complete, there may be a number of people who cannot be prosecuted for past crimes, but who nonetheless pose a threat to the security of the United States."

Some human rights advocates criticized Obama for adopting the idea that some detainees are not entitled to a trial. Others said the president was boxed in by cases inherited from the Bush administration in which possible prosecution had been irretrievably compromised by coercive interrogation.

The president stopped short of saying he would institutionalize indefinite detention for future captives.

more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/21/AR2009052104045.html

[Cali_Democrat]

17. Looks like the WaPo is confirming this story

This is not good at all.

[choie]

12. I'm just going to cry...

[mkultra]

13. Seems like he is just saying that HE doesnt have the authority

He is a military lawyer and he is saying that their release is a policy decision. My understanding is that the tribunals are intended to help classify detainees rather than finally judge their guilt or innocence.

There is no direct or indirect comment from the administration in this article regarding their intentions.

[Thrill]

14. Consider the source of the Article

I don't buy shit from that Murdoch rag

[Freddie Stubbs]

23. How about the Washington Post?

Obama Endorses Indefinite Detention Without Trial for Some

By Peter Finn
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 22, 2009

President Obama acknowledged publicly for the first time yesterday that some detainees at Guantanamo Bay may have to be held without trial indefinitely, siding with conservative national security advocates on one of the most contentious issues raised by the closing of the military prison in Cuba.

"We are going to exhaust every avenue that we have to prosecute those at Guantanamo who pose a danger to our country," Obama said. "But even when this process is complete, there may be a number of people who cannot be prosecuted for past crimes, but who nonetheless pose a threat to the security of the United States."

Some human rights advocates criticized Obama for adopting the idea that some detainees are not entitled to a trial. Others said the president was boxed in by cases inherited from the Bush administration in which possible prosecution had been irretrievably compromised by coercive interrogation.

The president stopped short of saying he would institutionalize indefinite detention for future captives.

more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/21/AR2009052104045.html

[Hippo_Tron]

16. First of all Murdoch rag, second of all Congress

Obama can't close Guantanamo if Congress won't fund it and they started freaking out at the notion that any of these people might be released or held in a US prison.

Don't get me wrong, I question whether or not we really need to still be considering this whole fight against terrorism a war rather than a police action and that is very much up to the Obama Administration. But congress has a huge hand in this too and for once it has little to do with campaign contributions.

[Number23]

18. How in the hell can you rightfully determine if someone will be a threat in the FUTURE?

We've all seen the movie. We know how this will turn out...

[treestar]

19. They are aliens without a legal basis to stay in the U.S.

So they can be detained to be deported.

Then some may be hard to remove, and they can't be released if they are made out to be dangerous - though surely they could challenge that in court.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscode08/usc_sec_08_00001226----000-.html

A lot of this kind of stuff is too legalistic for the MSM and it gets DUers excited when they don't understand what is going on. It takes reading the briefs and no one takes the time to do that.

[crimsonblue]

20. Small problem..

We are not governed by the rules of war. There has been no formal declaration of war against the people we have captured in Gitmo. The detainees, however, are governed by the Geneva Convention and the Conventions Against Torture, which specifically and universally forbid torture and indefinite, unlawful imprisonment.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

21. WTF indeed.

If Obama creates soem bullshit way to hold onto detainees after they have been acquitted of crimes then he is no better that W. and desrves as much contempt.

[mkultra]

22. DOD lawyer != whitehouse