What Civil Liberties?

While it's known that the US has used indefinite detention of suspects in its "war on terror", Congress has voted to make the same treatment legal for US citizens apprehended within the US.

The House of Representatives passed the 2012 National Defence Authorisation Act (or NDAA) on Wednesday and Senate approved it on Thursday.

[...]

Provisions in the bill codify an approach that allows for endless detention of US citizens and non-citizens picked up anywhere in the world. They also give the US military the option to detain US citizens suspected of participating or aiding in terrorist activities without a trial, indefinitely.

  alJazeera

We need no proof.

Attempts were made by several senators to strip the bill of that provision, but those attempts failed. Indeed, most of those who fought to have the provision removed from the bill - such as California's Senator Diane Feinstein and Colorado's Senator Mark Udall (both Democrats) ultimately ended up voting in favour of the bill.

Al Jazeera tried to contact nearly 30 senators from both sides of the vote (including co-sponsors senators John McCain and Carl Levin) but none seemed to be willing to talk or to answer questions about why they either voted against the provisions or, alternately, why they feel they are necessary and why the US justice system is inadequate to deal with terrorist suspects.

Ours is not to reason why.

Under pressure from the White House, Congress tweaked the bill on Monday, altering it to say that the military cannot interfere with FBI and other civilian investigations and interrogations. The revisions also allow the president to sign a waiver moving a terror suspect from military to civilian prison.

Ever so much better. The stripping of human rights is no bother, but we cannot permit the executive branch to be hobbled by laws.

[T]he military is not set up for domestic law enforcement, said Hulburt, adding that she’s done briefings with members of the military who "roll their eyes and say 'I don't know, on a practical level, how they expect us to [do] this'".

They don’t. They are just headless chickens bumping into each other trying to look tough. Of course, being headless, they cannot see what the rest of the world sees – a bunch of headless chickens running around bumping into each other, which is not a very fear-inspiring vision. The executive branch, on the other hand, is only interested in maintaining and gaining power, and if the President heads the military (which he does) then he now has them as his own Republican Guard to turn loose on anyone he wants. That should be comforting to all wimpy Democratic politicians who voted for this heinous bill considering they have such a tenuous grasp on the oval office and that the "opposing party" is both ruthless and completely fucking nuts. Perhaps if they keep the presidency this time around, they’ll work on a provision in the next four years to make the president emperor for life and allow for him to appoint a successor.

Fools.

Geneve Manatri, government relations director for Security with Human Rights at Amnesty International USA, disagrees.

"Senator Graham and people who share his point of view essentially believe that we are at war, and that that war and that battlefield extends everywhere. But taken to its logical conclusion - the idea is nonsensical. Where else are we really going to use drones? On the main street of Montreal? Or in the middle of America, are we going to chase someone down to a 7-Eleven with military force or drone," said Manatri.

In a word, yes.  Another blind fool.

Unmanned aircraft from an Air Force base in North Dakota help local police with surveillance

A Predator Drone, the same aerial vehicle used by the CIA to track down and assassinate terrorists and militants in Pakistan and Afghanistan, was used to hunt down the Brossarts, a North Dakota family who allegedly wouldn't give back three cows and their calves that wandered onto their 3,000-acre farm this summer.

  Opposing Views

Congress authorized the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to buy unarmed Predators in 2005, the Times said, to search for illegal immigrants and smugglers on the country's northern and southwestern borders.

  MSNBC

And then there's this near Houston...


...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.