In the Voter Guide we prepared for last year’s presidential election, we explained a crucial distinction between John McCain and Barack Obama with respect to how to classify captured suspected terrorists.
McCain’s position was to treat them as “enemy combatants” – in effect, as prisoners of war. The fact that they may not wear a uniform or fight under a nation’s flag is irrelevant. McCain’s position, with which we agree, is that foreign citizens who are plotting terrorist actions against the United States are not engaged in “criminal” actions that merit the full range of constitutional protections afforded alleged criminals here in the U.S., but are enemies who are at war with us.
Obama’s position was to treat them as suspected criminals and thus afford them that full range of constitutional protections.
Ideas have consequences, and the Weekly Standard article below exposes a very dangerous consequence of classifying suspected foreign terrorists as alleged “criminals” rather than suspected “enemy combatants.” The “rights” of suspected terrorists are trumping the rights of Americans to be protected from the actions of these enemy combatants.
Without a doubt America will be less safe as a result.