Please read this and if you are concerned about it becoming law, sign the petition.
UPDATE: too late, bush signed the law. the news story that turned me onto the petition website must have been old.
"But it effectively repeals the Bill of Rights. It permits the federal government to . . .
- "Disappear" anyone (including American citizens)
- Detain them indefinitely without recourse to legal defense
- Torture them"
The bill is explained on senate.gov here. not sure why this shows on the democratic policy committe site.
"Unlawful enemy combatant. S. 3930 would define an unlawful enemy combatant as: 1) “a person who has engaged in hostilities against the U.S. or who has purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the U.S. or its co-belligerents who is not a lawful enemy combatant (including a person who is part of the Taliban, al Qaeda or associated forces)”; or 2) “a person who, before, on, or after the date of the enactment of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 [December 30, 2005] has been determined to be an unlawful enemy combatant by a Combatant Status Review Tribunal or another competent tribunal established under the authority of the President or the Secretary of Defense.” In effect, S. 3930 would presume that any “person who is part of the Taliban, al Qaeda, or associated forces” is an unlawful enemy combatant – regardless of whether that person meets the test of engaging in hostilities against the