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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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US Drops Term 'Enemy Combatant'

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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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10 comments
VIEWING:
 
PaleRider
Mar 13, 09 9:59 PM CDT
And if you close your eyes, they all go away. Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
paul123
Mar 13, 09 11:54 PM CDT
they who? we have no enemy combatants. Everybody loves us now that B.Obama is in office, that is except the pakistani's, who he bombed his first week in office.
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IN RESPONSE:
NutsInNY
Mar 14, 09 4:06 AM CDT
paul123 you are so rightarded!
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IN RESPONSE:
PaleRider
Mar 14, 09 10:25 AM CDT
You are right Paul, what kills me is you read a completely opposite story in foreign papers, like the Itallian paper that had th headline, "Pope Gives Pelosi a Scolding" you didn't read anything about that here, lol. Imagine getting yelled at by the Pope? LOL.
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IN RESPONSE:
Forderon
Mar 14, 09 3:56 PM CDT
http://www.newser.com/story/51194/pope-scolds-pelosi-on-abortion.html ------good job PoorReader. Now go back to your right-wing hideouts to learn more lame talking points.
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