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US Drops Term 'Enemy Combatant'

By the Associated Press

Posted Mar 13, 2009 6:19 PM CDT
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(AP) – The Obama administration said today it is abandoning one of President Bush's key phrases in the war on terrorism: enemy combatant, the AP reports. The Justice Department said in legal filings that it will no longer use the term to justify holding prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. But that won't change much for the detainees at the US naval base in Cuba—President Obama still asserts the military's authority to hold them.

Despite criticisms that the change is mere window dressing, there are some changes in legal principles in Obama's stance. The DoJ said authority to hold detainees comes from Congress and the international laws of war, not from the president's own wartime power, as Bush had argued. And the DoJ said prisoners can only be detained if their support for al-Qaida, the Taliban or "associated forces" was "substantial."

Attorney General Eric Holder signs autographs at the Justice Department in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009, after making remarks commemorating African American History Month.
Attorney General Eric Holder signs autographs at the Justice Department in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009, after making remarks commemorating African American History Month.   (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)
President Obama speaks at a hotel in Washington, Thursday, March 12, 2009.
President Obama speaks at a hotel in Washington, Thursday, March 12, 2009.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
In this 2002, file photo, a detainee from Afghanistan is carried on a stretcher before being interrogated by military officials at Guantanamo Bay.
In this 2002, file photo, a detainee from Afghanistan is carried on a stretcher before being interrogated by military officials at Guantanamo Bay.   (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Attorney General Eric Holder speaks at the Justice Department in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2009, after officially being sworn in.
Attorney General Eric Holder speaks at the Justice Department in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2009, after officially being sworn in.   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 9 comments
Doctor-Zaius
Mar 15, 2009 1:35 AM CDT
Pole-Rider, Spend more time unclogging toilets, It's what you're good at.
Guest
Mar 14, 2009 11:30 PM CDT
Believe me, the Newser article was mild and sparse compared to the actual account.
riffran
Mar 14, 2009 11:23 PM CDT
and I geuss rape can be renamed "unilaterally consensual intercourse"....lol

Copyright 2012 Newser, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.

 
War on Terror • Barack Obama • Department of Justice • enemy combatants • Eric Holder

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