I was watching the Senate talking about Indefinite Detainment once more on the Senate floor on 12/15/11. There were a few that were saying the interpretation of the law is broad and can be misused and abused by the government. Then Graham got up and began talking about it once more calling the U.S. a battlefield. (I agree it is a battle field, but it is the people against the Treasonous Senate and Congress and President)I heard Graham talking about KILLING Terrorist and was floored that it seems the bill gives the U.S. a RIGHT to kill U.S. Citizens besides detaining them for the rest of their lives!
I questioned if I heard it correctly. Well I did hear it correctly!Here is the video: transcript is below
HERE IS THE TRANSCRIPT- PART OF WHAT GRAHAM SAYS AT WHAT HOUR AND MINUTE AND SECOND HE SAID IT:
06:10:33 I THANK THE SENATOR FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE WHO HAS BEEN A GREAT LEADER ON THIS.
06:10:38 WELL, LET ME JUST TELL MY COLLEAGUES WHAT DRAWS MY THINKING HERE.
06:10:41 I THINK WE'RE AT WAR.
06:10:42 I BELIEVE IT.
06:10:42 I DON'T THINK IT.
06:10:44 I HOPE YOU BELIEVE IT, TOO.
06:10:46 AND I HOPE YOU BELIEVE AMERICA IS PART OF THE BATTLEFIELD BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT THE ENEMY WOULD LIKE TO DO IS DESTROY OUR COUNTRY.
06:10:54 IF YOU CAPTURE AN AL QAEDA OPERATIVE OVERSEAS, DOES ANYBODY IN THIS BODY SUGGEST THAT WE SHOULD GIVE THEM A LAWYER OR THEM THEIR RIGHTS?
06:11:02 IN WORLD WAR II, IF YOU CAPTURED A NAZI PRISONER, A NAZI SOLDIER OVERSEAS AND YOU STARTED SAYING YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT AND GIVE YOU A LAWYER EVEN THOUGH MIRANDA DIDN'T EXIST AT THE TIME, PEOPLE WOULD RUN YOU OUT OF TOWN.
06:11:17 SO IF YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN KILL AN AMERICAN CITIZEN WHO HAS JOINED AL QAEDA, THE AWLAKI CASE UNITED STATES MADE AN EXECUTIVE WHERE THE PRESIDENT OF THE DECISION UNDER THE RULE OF LAW, NOT THROUGH A COURT DECISION, TO TARGET AN AMERICAN CITIZEN WHO HAD ALIGNED THEMSELVES WITH THE ENEMY, THEN IF YOU CAN KILL THEM, WHICH IS PRETTY INDEFINITE, WHY CAN'T YOU CAPTURE AND HOLD THEM?
06:11:41 NOW, THAT WOULD BE THE DUMBEST THING IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD FOR A NATION TO SAY WE -- WE ALL ACKNOWLEDGE THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH'S POWER TO TARGET AN AMERICAN CITIZEN WHO HAS ALIGNED THEMSELVES WITH THE ENEMY, AND WE CAN KILL THEM OVERSEAS, WE OVERSEAS, WE CAN INTERROGATE THEM ABOUT WHAT THEY KNOW ABOUT FUTURE ATTACKS, BUT WHEN THEY GET HERE, YOU HAVE TO TREAT THEM AS A COMMON CRIMINAL.
06:12:08 I THINK WHAT WE SHARED, THE SENATOR FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE, IS WE THINK AL QAEDA OPERATIVES, CITIZENS OR NOT, ARE NOT COMMON CRIMINALS.
06:12:16 WE THINK THEY ARE CRAZY PEOPLE.
06:12:18 WARRIORS BENT ON OUR DESTRUCTION WHO WOULD BLOW THEMSELVES UP JUST AS QUICKLY AS THEY WOULD BLOW YOU UP, AND THEY DON'T CARE THAT THEY BLOW THEMSELVES UP.
06:12:26 THE ONLY REASON THE CHRISTMAS DAY BOMBER DIDN'T KILL A BUNCH OF PEOPLE IS HIS SHOE DIDN'T GO OFF.
06:12:32 THE ONLY REASON THE TIMES SQUARE BOMBER DIDN'T KILL A BUNCH OF PEOPLE IS BECAUSE THE BOMB DIDN'T GO OFF.
06:12:36 IF YOU'RE AN AMERICAN CITIZEN AND YOU WANT TO HELP AL QAEDA KILL AMERICANS AND DESTROY YOUR OWN COUNTRY, HERE'S WHAT'S COMING YOUR WAY
.
06:12:44 AND IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE LISTENING TO THIS DEBATE, PLEASE UNDERSTAND THE LAW AS IT IS TODAY, IT'S GOING TO BE AFTER THIS BILL IS PASSED.
06:12:56 WE'RE AT WAR.
06:12:57 THE AUTHORIZATION TO USE MILITARY FORCE PASSED BY THE RIGHT AFTER THE ATTACKS AGAINST THIS NATION DESIGNATES AL QAEDA AS A MILITARY THREAT, NOT A COMMON CRIMINAL THREAT, SO WE APPLY THE LAW OF WAR.
06:13:09 THERE ARE TWO LEGAL SYSTEMS AT PLAY HERE.
06:13:14 DOMESTIC CRIMINAL LAW THAT WELL SERVES US AS A NATION TO DEAL WITH CRIME.
06:13:19 EVEN THE WORST PERSON, THE WORST CHILD ABUSER GETS A LAWYER AND IS PRESUMED INNOCENT.
06:13:24 BELIEVE IT OR NOT, WAR CRIMINALS GET LAWYERS AND ARE PRESUMED INNOCENT.
06:13:29 I'M PROUD OF BOTH SYSTEMS, BUT THE LAW ENFORCEMENT MODEL DOESN'T ALLOW YOU TO HOLD SOMEONE FOR A PERIOD OF TIME TO GATHER INTELLIGENCE.
06:13:37 UNDER THE LAW ENFORCEMENT MODEL, ONCE YOU CAPTURE SOMEONE, YOU HAVE TO START READING THEM THEIR LAWYER.
06:13:42 RIGHTS AND PROVIDING THEM A UNDER THE LAW OF WAR MODEL, YOU CAN HOLD SOMEONE WHO IS PART OF THE ENEMY FORCE AND GATHER INTELLIGENCE, AND THIS IS NOT THE FIRST WAR WHERE AMERICAN CITIZENS HAVE SIDED WITH THE ENEMY.
06:13:59 RE QUIRIN CASE WHERE AMERICANS AIDED NAZI BE AURES.
06:14:04 THE COURT SAID "THERE IS NO BAR TO THE NATION HOLDING ONE OF ITS COMBATANT." OWN CITIZENS AS ENEMY THAT'S BEEN THE LAW FOR DECADES.
06:14:12 IF IT MADE SENSE TO HOLD AN AMERICAN CITIZEN WHO WAS HELPING THE NAZIS UNDER UNDER MILITARY AUTHORITY BECAUSE THEY'RE HELPING A MILITARY ENEMY OF THE NATION TO GATHER INTELLIGENCE WHY IN THE WORLD WOULDN'T IT MAKE SENSE TO HOLD SOMEONE WHO IS JOINED WITH AL QAEDA TO GATHER INTELLIGENCE ABOUT THE NEXT ATTACK?
06:14:28 LET ME GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT WE MAY FACE.
06:14:31 HOMEGROWN TERRORISM IS ON THE RISE.
06:14:32 THE INTERNET IS OUT THERE.
06:14:34 IT'S A GOOD THING AND A BAD THING.
06:14:38 BUT THE IDEA OF PEOPLE GETTING RADICALIZED AND TURNING AGAINST THEIR OWN COUNTRY IS A GROWING THREAT.
06:18:18 THE KEY FACT HERE IS NO ONE'S HELD AS AN ENEMY COMBATANT WITHOUT JUDICIAL REVIEW AND ONCE YOU'RE DETERMINED TO BE AN ENEMY COMBATANT, WE'RE GOING TO APPLY THE LAW OF WAR LIKE WE HAVE FOR 200 YEARS AND THE LAW OF WAR SAYS NO NATION HAS TO LET AN ENEMY PRISONER GO OR PROSECUTE THEM BECAUSE WE'RE NOT FIGHTING A CRIME, WE'RE FIGHTING A WAR.
06:18:39 IF YOU'RE AN AL QAEDA OPERATIVE, YOU COULD GET KILLED EVEN IF YOU'RE AN AMERICAN CITIZEN BY ASSISTING THE ENEMY AT HOME OR ABROAD.
06:18:48 SO DON'T JOIN AL QAEDA BECAUSE YOU COULD LOSE YOUR LIFE, AND IF YOU DO GET CAPTURED, YOU CAN BE HELD INDEFINITELY UNDER THE LAW OF WAR BECAUSE YOU'VE COMMITTED AN ACT OF WAR.
UPDATE - 12/16/11 5:33 PM - NY TIMES - Article - about it all:
Small portion:
The measures, contained in the annual military budget bill, will strip the F.B.I., federal prosecutors and federal courts of all or most of their power to arrest and prosecute terrorists and hand it off to the military, which has made clear that it doesn’t want the job. The legislation could also give future presidents the authority to throw American citizens into prison for life without charges or a trial. The bill, championed by Republicans in the House and Senate, was attached to the military budget bill to make it harder for Mr. Obama to veto it.
Nearly every top American official with knowledge and experience spoke out against the provisions, including the attorney general, the defense secretary, the chief of the F.B.I., the secretary of state, and the leaders of intelligence agencies. And, for weeks, the White House vowed that Mr. Obama would veto the military budget if the provisions were left in. On Wednesday, the White House reversed field, declaring that the bill had been improved enough for the president to sign it now that it had passed the Senate.
