Will President Obama ever give back the powers he's claiming? Will any president?

[BlueCheese]

President Obama is claiming that he and his government have the power to unilaterally declare an American citizen a terrorist, and to use military force to kill that person without notification, indictment, or trial. I'm not sure what legal grounds he's using for this argument, or if that argument is classified or not. Some supporters say that it is justified by the Authorization for the Use of Military Force passed in the days after the September 11 attacks, which apparently means that so long as we're fighting this amorphous war on terror, any president can claim these extraordinary powers. I personally think that this conclusion is wrong, and frankly terrifying. What right could be more basic than to not be executed without trial? But not everyone sees it that way.

Since the September 11 attacks, the government has claimed ever more power. Things we would never have countenanced before are commonplace--warrantless wiretapping, indefinite detention of so-called enemy combatants, detention of an American citizen without charges or trial, execution of an American citizen without charges or trial, as well as a host of everyday surveillance intrusions such as bans on liquids and gels on flights, invasive airport screening, etc. Even if one is willing to concede that increased surveillance and wider executive power are necessary for this poorly-defined war on terror, at some point we have to think that the war will be over, right? At that point, then, shouldn't the government be expected, and indeed required to give up all of the extraordinary powers it has accumulated?

Since 2001, we have made great progress in fighting Al Qaeda. We have driven Al Qaeda out of large parts of Afghanistan, and captured or killed much of its senior leadership, including Osama bin Laden himself, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and what seem to be a steady stream of #3 leaders. It seems clear that the 2011 version of Al Qaeda is much weaker than the 2001 edition. As the war continues, will President Obama, or any future president, ever declare that the threat has diminished, and that he is relinquishing some of the power he has claimed? Will he ever declare that we can carry bottled water onto airplanes, or that we will no longer hold US citizens without charges indefinitely? Will the government once again agree to seek out warrants before wiretapping? Or are the new, enlarged powers here to stay?

[TheWraith]

1. Sigh.

Out of curiosity, do you find it horribly terribly illegal every time the police kill a dangerous fugitive on the run from justice? Because that's been police procedure about as long as there have been police. Being a fugitive from the law is likely to result in death. Trying to create an equivalence between that and random murder, like you just pulled someone off the street and executed them, is silly.

[unionworks]

2. will ron paul

...ever get a grip on reality?

[99th_Monkey]

3. The USA "War on Terrah" is a gift the keeps on giving.

Giving more power to public officials to fuck with us and our rights, and more money
to the military/CIA/industrial complex to murder anyone who gets in their way or has
some resource they want to enrich themselves.

As for our rights? pffft.

None of those currently in power seem to really give a rats ass, near as I can tell.

[ixion]

4. No. Which is why it's a mistake to give them more power.

Governments don't tend to give power back. They tend to take it.

[mmonk]

5. I think it all was lost back at impeachment is off the table.

I gon't see us getting the Constitutional checks and balances back, espcially when the population of the country doesn't even have a clue it's gone.

[Tesha]

7. Precisely! (NT)

[madrchsod]

6. we`ll see even more laws that shred our freedoms....