Congressional Republicans increasingly reject any use of the civilian criminal justice system for handling cases involving Al Qaeda, hardening their stance in a dispute with the Obama administration over whether such suspects should be held and prosecuted exclusively by the military.
Republican senators are pushing to include a provision in a 2012 military authorization bill that would require Qaeda suspects accused of plotting attacks and who are not American citizens to be held in military custody — even people arrested in the United States. The White House opposes such a blanket rule.
Amid negotiations over the bill, Republicans — who see their position as a potent election issue in 2012 — delivered an overwhelming show of unity in support of such ideas late last week, as 45 of the party’s 47 senators voted for a similar proposal to ban civilian trials for such “enemy combatants.” The endorsement highlighted a dramatic shift to the right in the politics of counterterrorism since President Obama succeeded George W. Bush.
In other words, they pretty much have no foreign policy right now, so they figure, "Why not? This seems like something we can at least argue about!"
He captured bin Laden, Quadaffi is out of power, he's drawing down troops, and at home voters are showing contempt for all spending and military action.
So they're just gonna make some shit up. See if they can go FURTHER right...
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