Bush's proposal makes U.S. effort equivalent to war
By Siobhan Gorman -- Baltimore Sun
Sept. 27, 2006 -- WASHINGTON -- A little- noticed provision in President Bush's proposal for the treatment of suspected terrorists would for the first time legally endorse the fight against terrorism as equivalent to war, lawmakers and national security lawyers say.
For five years, Washington lawmakers have clashed over whether the U.S. effort to combat terrorism should be considered an armed conflict. The White House has said repeatedly that the anti-terrorism effort should be considered a war.
Critics of the provision, such as former CIA counsel Suzanne Spaulding, said it could amount to a back-door endorsement of the disputed wartime presidential powers that Bush has asserted, potentially strengthening his hand in court battles over the National Security Agency's warrantless spying and permitting defense and intelligence agencies to launch operations in the United States.
"Does it allow the president to basically define the war on terrorism as broadly or as narrowly as he wants?" said Rep. Adam B. Schiff, a California Democrat. "The answer is yes."
Critics compare the provision to a resolution passed by Congress in September 2001 that authorized the use of force against the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks. Bush has used the resolution as the legal basis for a wide range of initiatives, including warrantless domestic eavesdropping and the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens suspected of terrorism, without conferring with Congress or the courts.
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