HNIC Obama drops "enemy combatant" term for his islamonazi homeboyz

U.S. reverses policy, drops 'enemy combatant' term

• Story Highlights
  
• Under designation, suspected terrorists were held at length without criminal charges
  
• Justice Department is developing new standard for authority to hold detainees
  
• Department will rely on authority granted by Congress, not president's authority
  
• Government says new definition applies only to prisoners at Guantanamo Bay
  

By Terry Frieden
CNN Justice Producer
WASHINGTON (CNN)
-- In a dramatic break with the Bush administration, the Justice
Department on Friday announced it is doing away with the designation of
"enemy combatant," which allowed the United States to hold suspected
terrorists at length without criminal charges.In a court filing
in Washington, the department said it is developing a new standard for
the government's authority to hold detainees at the Guantanamo Bay
detention facility in Cuba.The announcement says the Justice
Department will no longer rely on the the president's authority as
commander in chief, but on authority specifically granted by Congress.And
the government document says that individuals who support al Qaeda or
the Taliban are detainable only if the support was "substantial."The
category of "enemy combatant" had been an important aspect of the Bush
administration's legal construct for dealing with terrorism suspects.The
government describes its new policy position in a memo submitted to the
U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., in a case dealing with Guantanamo Bay detainee litigation that began during the Bush administration.In the document, the Obama administration provides a more limited definition of who may be held at Guantanamo Bay:"The
president has the authority to detain persons that the president
determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist
attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, andpersons who harbored those responsible for those attacks," the document says."The
president also has the authority to detain persons who were part of, or
substantially supported Taliban or al-Qaida forces or associated forces
that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its
coalition partners, including any person who has committed a
belligerent act, or has directly supported hostilities, in aid of such
enemy armed forces."The Justice Department did not say how many
of the approximately 240 detainees now at Guantanamo may fall within
the new definition. The new construct clearly allows for the continued
detention of admitted 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and a handful of his acknowledged al Qaeda operatives.The
government says that it is developing a comprehensive detention policy
and that the new definition applies only to prisoners at Guantanamo Bay
and not at other military prison facilities."This position is
limited to the authority upon which the government is relying to detain
the persons now being held at Guantanamo Bay. It is not, at this point,
meant to define the contours of authority for military operations
generally, or detention in other contexts," the government said.Attorney General Eric Holder is overseeing the administration's review of what to do with each of the Guantanamo prisoners.In
the court document submitted by his lawyers, it is clear that the
prosecutors will consider each case on its particular merits."It
is neither possible nor advisable to attempt to identify in the
abstract the precise nature and degree of 'substantial support,' or the
precise characteristics of 'associated forces,' " according to the
document.The government said it will need to apply the new definition and the concrete facts in individual cases.In a 12-page explanation of its position, the government memo says the the Justice Department
will look to the congressionally passed Authorization for the Use of
Military Force and to international treaties, including the Geneva
Conventions, to make decisions about holding prisoners.
But
the government also said that because those treaties were developed for
conflicts between the armed forces of nation states, new rules will
have to be developed to fit al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners who were
previously designated as "enemy combatants."

Remo wrote:And the government document says that individuals who
support al Qaeda or the Taliban are detainable only if the support was
"substantial."

What do they consider substantial?

Remo wrote:The new construct clearly allows for the continued detention of admitted 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and a handful of his acknowledged al Qaeda operatives.

Well, thank God for that.

"islamonazi homeboyz" :0, Yes, that's about the size of it.