IPFS
PROTEST SENATOR MCCAIN’S SPONSORSHIP, AND SENATOR KYL’S BACKING,...
Written by Ernest Hancock Subject: Events: ArizonaPROTEST SENATOR MCCAIN’S SPONSORSHIP, AND SENATOR KYL’S BACKING,
OF THE...
NATIONAL DEFENSE
AUTHORIZATION ACT
WHICH
AUTHORIZES THE MILITARY TO INDEFINITELY IMPRISON AMERICANS CITIZENS,
WITHOUT
CHARGE OR TRIAL, BASED UPON SUSPICION ALONE
WHEN: Saturday, December 17, 2011
10:00 a.m. to 12 noon
WHERE: Office of Sen. John S. McCain
2201 East Camelback Road, Phoenix , Arizona
Also sign the online ACLU petition to your
Congressional representative and say no to Indefinite Detention
If the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), co-sponsored by Senator
McCain, is enacted into law as it is currently written, American citizens will be in danger of enduring indefinite military
detention without charges or trial.
Last week,
the U.S. Senate passed the NDAA, a massive $662 billion defense bill with
provisions that would amplify the role of the military in the seizure and
detention of terror suspects, including U.S. citizens.
The bill,
which was passed by a sweeping bipartisan vote of 98%, is still a work in
progress (the Senate and the House have yet to settle upon a final bill that
will go to the President.
Section 1031 of the bill affirms that the
military has the authority to detain "a person who was part of, or substantially
supported al-Qaida, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in
hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners, [. . . ]
without trial" and authorizes "transfer to the custody or control of the
person's country of origin, any other foreign country, or any other foreign
entity." This implies that a naturalized American citizen could be
exiled to their country of origin, even if it endangers their life. It also implies that an American citizen born in the United
States could be transferred to another "foreign entity." While no
one is sure what “other foreign entity” may include, an entity akin to the new
mercenary company in the United Arab Emirates run by Erik Prince, former CEO of
Backwater, cannot be ruled out. Section 1032 of the bill would
require mandatory military custody of someone accused of being affiliated with
al-Qaeda or plotting attacks against the United States.
As revealed by the following debate between
Senator Rand Paul and Senator McCain, http://www.dailypaul.com/189568/s-1867-live-now-on-c-span2 Senator McCain has made it clear that the bill’s
provisions apply to U.S citizens:
Senator Rand Paul: "Under the provisions, would
it be possible that an American citizen then could be declared an enemy
combatant and sent to Guantánamo Bay and detained
indefinitely?"
Senator John McCain: "I think that as long as
that individual, no matter who they are, if they pose a threat to the security
of the United States of America , should not be allowed to continue that
threat."
Indeed, any doubt about whether this bill
permits the military detention of U.S. citizens was dispelled entirely on
December 1, 2011, when an amendment offered by Senator Dianne Feinstein - to
confine military detention to those apprehended “abroad,” i.e., off U.S.
soil - failed by a vote of 45-55 with Senator McCain and Kyl voting against the
Feinstein’s amendment. However, Senator Feinstein
succeeded in pushing through a measure that states that the bill does not affect
"existing law relating to the detention of United
States citizens, lawful resident aliens of the United States or any other
persons who are captured or arrested in the United States .” The
amendment passed 99 to 1, with only Senator Jon Kyl voting against it. The dilemmas and the debate lie in the fact that
there is disagreement as to what current law mandates.
The Act violates
the due process protections provided in the Sixth Amendment's right to a trial
as well as Article 3, Section 3 of the Constitution which guarantees that no one
can be accused of treason without due process protections.
Keep in mind that
six Senators including Senator Lieberman argued on the Senate floor in favor of
an amendment by New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte to restore the use of the
Bush era torture techniques (by rolling back the 2009 Obama executive order
against torture and re-establishing a secret "classified" set of interrogation
techniques and attaching them to the current Army Field Manual). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0wpAcovRFk The amendment was ruled non-germane but may again be
reintroduced.
While Senators
McCain and Kyl repeatedly use rhetoric attacking the evils of “Big Government”
and state they distrust federal power and believe in restrained government (and
completely ignore the abuses of corporate power), the two Senators have few
qualms about passing a muli-billion dollar bill that escalates the power of the
military over the lives of Americans whom they have sworn to
protect.
Those who plan to
participate in this action are reminded that all events called by the End the
War Coalition are governed by the non-violent principles espoused by Mahatma
Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavaz, Delores Huerta, and Dorothy
Day.
Sponsored by End the War Coalition
– Arizona Alliance for Peace and Justice, Arizona Institute for Peace
Education and Research, Code Pink-Phoenix, Grandmothers for Peace, Progressive
Democrats of America , Veterans for Peace-Phoenix, Women in
Black-Phoenix
For more information call (480) 894-2024 or email endthewarcoalition@cox.net
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