Senate Republicans want to strip President Barack Obama and all future presidents of the ability to decide whether terrorism suspects should be handed over to civilian law enforcement or the military, preferring instead that detainees automatically go into military custody.

 

Just before Congress adjourned for its summer recess, Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) had language inserted into the National Defense Authorization Act that would require all terror suspects immediately become the responsibility of the Department of Defense. Currently, the president has the authority to place such individuals in the hands of the FBI.

 

Like many Republicans, McCain criticized the Obama administration for allowing FBI agents to detain and question Umar Farouq Abdulmuttalab, who attempted to blow up an airliner on Christmas Day 2009.

 

The proposed law would not apply to American citizens. But it does contain broad language that would cover large numbers of terror suspects.

 

“Right now the president has a choice of whether the FBI or the military should take custody of a terror suspect, and there’s often a preference for giving the FBI first dibs because of their expertise in interrogation and intelligence-gathering,” Raha Wala, an analyst for Human Rights First, told National Journal. “This would take away that choice and require the military to take custody of a huge category of terrorism suspects captured at home or abroad, which I think is very alarming.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

In Major Shift, Legislation Would Mandate Military Custody of All Terror Suspects (by Yochi Dreazen, National Journal)