More on S. 1867 - National Defense Authorization Act

Guantánamo for US citizens? Senate bill raises questions - Christian Science Monitor

The National Defense Authorization Act passed by the Senate this week could allow the US military to detain American citizens indefinitely. Civil libertarians are alarmed, and President Obama says he might veto it.

By Brad Knickerbocker, Staff writer / December 3, 2011

Legislation passed by the Senate this week and headed for the House – and a possible presidential veto – could allow the US military to detain American citizens indefinitely.

The National Defense Authorization Act covering $662 billion in defense spending for the next fiscal year includes a provision requiring military custody of a terror suspect believed to be a member of Al Qaeda or its affiliates and involved in attacks on the United States.
 

 A last minute amendment allows the president to waive the authority based on national security and to hold a terror suspect in civilian rather than military custody. But the bill would deny US citizens suspected of being terrorists the right to trial, subjecting them to indefinite detention, and civil libertarians say the amendment essentially is meaningless...MORE   

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National Defense Authorization Act spurs uprising from left and right on detainee provisions

By Alex Leary, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Thursday, December 8, 2011   - St. Petersburg Times

WASHINGTON — In Florida, Sen. Marco Rubio has been attacked as a "traitor." In Arizona, tea party members protested against Sen. John McCain. In Utah, Occupy demonstrators donned black hoods to stand against "radical and uncalled for constraints on our constitutional rights."


The uprising is directed at provisions of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, approved by the Senate last week, that would require the military to arrest terrorist suspects in the United States and detain them indefinitely without trial.


...President Barack Obama has threatened a veto, arguing the measures would complicate civilian intelligence gathering. FBI director Robert Mueller and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta have objected as well. The bill includes a waiver to keep people in the civilian system, but administration officials say that too is cumbersome and would devour critical time in an investigation. Despite White House objections, the Senate approved the defense bill by a 93-7 vote Dec. 1.The approval has triggered fears across the Internet, from concern about innocent Americans being snared to more extreme views of a military state.

"Sen. Rubio, you might want to sit down with your older relatives who fled Cuba and ask them why they left," Erica Cirillo wrote on Facebook, one of several comments. "Could it be that they saw friends and family being detained indefinitely without trials? That innocent people were being grabbed in the street and labeled 'enemies of the state' for no reason? Shame on you, senator."...MORE