A government attorney argued yesterday that America is a battlefield and President Bush therefore has the authority to detain enemy combatants indefinitely in this country.
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Paul Clement, acting solicitor general of the United States, made the comments as a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit here is considering whether to overturn a lower court ruling that Jose Padilla should be charged with a crime or released. In 2002, Padilla, a former Chicago gang member and Muslim convert, was taken into custody by the military and has been held without trial ever since.
Luttig repeatedly pressed Clement, even after the solicitor general noted that Padilla's alleged intentions as a soldier of al Qaeda -- to target civilians -- constituted ''unlawful combatancy" even if he were on a battlefield in uniform.
''Those accusations don't get you very far," Luttig replied, ''unless you're prepared to boldly say the United States is a battlefield in the war on terror."
Clement answered, ''I can say that, and I can say it boldly."
But Michael said that Padilla wasn't captured anywhere near a battlefield. ''You captured Padilla in a Manhattan jail cell," Michael said. ''What, in the laws of war, allows you to undertake a nonbattlefield capture and hold them for the duration? I don't think you cite anything."
Michael, addressing Clement's claim that America is a battlefield, then asked, ''to call the United States a battlefield, wouldn't you have needed a specific authorization from Congress? It's not up to us as a court to develop laws of war."
As predicted previously, the White House is now trying to extend the 'unlawful combatants' thing to the US against a US citizen. If allowed, this will let the government throw anybody they want into prison for as long as they feel like it with no possible legal recourse.
Ultimatly this decision is actually fairly unimportant though, as no matter who wins this will probably end up at the Supreme Court.
Jay