Thursday, July 19, 2007

ACLU Aims to Give Right of Habeus Corpus to Enemy Combatants


Vigilant Freedom has distributed the following alert:

>"The ACLU has announced a strong push to end the US government’s ability to detain terrorists seized on the battlefield and try them under Military Commissions for their actions as enemy combatants. The Bush Administration has expressed its belief in the importance of preventing Islamist fighters from abusing the American civil judicial system. Now Senate Amendment S.A 2022 proposed by Senators Leahy and Specter seeks to undo that effort. The ACLU Washington Legislative Office is urging their members to lobby their Senators to institute the right of habeas corpus, a right of citizenship, for all enemy combatants. The ACLU writes: No president should ever be given the sole power to call someone an enemy and lock him or her away …but that is exactly the power the Bush administration has claimed.

"Write or call your Senators and let them know how you feel about awarding American civil rights to terrorists captured overseas and encourage them to consider carefully their vote on S.A 2022."

I wrote the following e-mail:

Dear Senator Schumer: I oppose Senators Leahy's and Specter's SA 2022 that would prohibit the president from detaining enemy combatants. The taking of military prisoners is a normal occurrence in war, and encouraging terrorist fighters to make use of the American legal system would guarantee their success. If there is another terrorist strike in the United States, Senators Leahy and Specter will deserve credit.

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