Terrorism

Obama Signs Defense Bill With "Serious Reservations"

Kyle Leighton | December 31, 2011, 4:37PM

President Barack Obama

President Obama signed a controversial defense funding bill sent to him by Congress, but did so with "reservations," and in a signing statement gave his administration broad latitude to interpret and apply the bill as he sees fit.

"Moving forward, my administration will interpret and implement the provisions described below in a manner that best preserves the flexibility on which our safety depends and upholds the values on which this country was founded," Obama wrote.

The bill provides funding for the armed services, intelligence services and other components of the federal government devoted to national security. It also adds further financial sanctions on Iran. The President's issue with the bill is not a fight over funding, but with policy issues contained within the legislation, specifically the treatment of terror suspects, and the authority it sought to remove from the executive.

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War On Terror

Obama Would Veto Defense Bill Over Detainee Provisions

Susan Crabtree | May 24, 2011, 6:35PM

President Barack Obama

The White House is threatening to veto the annual must-pass House Defense Authorization bill over language limiting his ability to transfer detainees overseas or try them in civilian court, among other issues.

In addition, the White House is taking strong exception to language dramatically expanding the president's power to wage the war on terror indefinitely, among other provisions.

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Barack Obama

Father of 9/11 Hero Has Searing Words For Holder

Susan Crabtree | April 5, 2011, 12:51PM

David Beamer

The father of 9/11 hero Todd Beamer tore into Attorney General Eric Holder for standing by his earlier decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in New York civilian courts even as he reversed course and announced Monday that KSM and his co-conspirators would be tried in military commissions.

Holder and the White House got a thorough drubbing by critics and supporters alike Monday for reversing course and breaking a campaign promise to close the detainee prison facility at Guantanamo Bay and try KSM and 9/11 co-conspirators in civilian courts. But one of the most searing critiques came Tuesday morning from David Beamer, the father of Todd Beamer, the renowned hero of United Airlines flight 93 who fought the terrorists before the plane crashed in Shanksville, Pa.

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'Obama's Wars'

McCain, Graham Lead Effort to Strip Holder of Detainee Authority

Susan Crabtree | March 10, 2011, 3:47PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

Six senators, led by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), are pushing for sweeping changes to the nation's laws governing detainees and the war on terror, including one that would strip Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department as a whole of the power to make decisions about where to try suspected terrorists.

The group of senators, which includes Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Scott Brown (R-MA), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), are working with Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee on a bill that would usher in comprehensive detainee policy changes and would, among other things, affirm the military's right to detain, hold and interrogate detains at its discretion without the involvement of the Department of Justice or Holder.

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Lindsey Graham

Graham: Obama's Gitmo Decree Is 'Confusing, Illogical'

Susan Crabtree | March 8, 2011, 8:44AM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

President Obama signed an executive order Monday that ends a two-year ban on military trials at Guantanamo Bay, but one of the biggest critics of his detainee policy is still confused about what the decree means for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-declared mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and his co-conspirators.

"[The administration's policy on Guantanamo] has been on again and off again, and I can't tell from this order where KSM is going to go," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told TPM Monday evening. "He would gladly tell you he did it. He and his co-conspirators should be handled through the law of war and treated like our enemies."

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