American Vision News | Advancing the Faith. Protecting Liberty.

The Tenth Amendment Center (TAC) has published an article decrying the passage and the signing-into-law by Barack Obama of the “Battlefield USA” bill previously reported here and here by American Vision News. TAC’s article does a very good job explaining the legal language of the bill and confirming the dangers we’ve emphasized.

Congress just passed, and the President just signed, a bill that gives legal authority to the President to kidnap and perpetually imprison persons, including American citizens, without the benefit of due process.

Members of Congress, in the days leading up to the vote, tried to assure their constituents that they have nothing to fear — that the bill doesn’t apply to Americans.

Some were lying. Most were deceived.

Here’s what they were deceived and lying about:

SECTION 1022 [Correction: see Section 1032--J.M.]

1022 [1032] is a REQUIREMENT — a binding mandate upon the President. . . .

Section 1022 [1032] requires the President to go with option #1 above [Detention without trial by the military] — the other three options are off the table. In other words, no trial, either in a civilian court or military tribunal.

In the final version of the bill, after a public storm started to erupt, the title of the section was changed to indicate that it only applied to “foreign al-Qaeda terrorists.” However, titles are not normally considered part of the law but merely summary descriptions to the reader of a bill.

But this title is especially IRONIC, because it’s this section that includes the so-called exemption for American citizens. Why would you need to exempt American citizens from a section of law that applies to “foreign al-Qaeda terrorists?”

The answer is because the section applies to any kind of “terrorist,” domestic or foreign, no matter what the title says.

And here’s the so-called exemption, with the key word highlighted…

The REQUIREMENT to detain a person in military custody under this section does not extend to citizens of the United States.

That means that military custody, without a trial, is mandated by law, but that the President, at his discretion or by written policy, may issue a waiver on the basis that a person is an American citizen.

If this provision was a true safeguard for American citizens, then the line would’ve been written like this…

Military custody of citizens of the United States is still prohibited under this act.

See the difference? It’s a requirement that can be waived at discretion, as opposed to a prohibition.

TAC also provides an illuminating hypothetical scenario to show how this bill could affect otherwise completely innocent TEA party activists and constitutional conservatives without discrimination. I recommend you read the whole article.

TAC leaves us with an ominous warning based on an ominous precedent already set:

Now, do you realize Congress has given the Federal State the power to use military detention on its own citizens? And that they’ve made it possible to wage a war on peaceful activists, if they can just incite someone in your group to attempt something violent?

Don’t worry. It’s not like the FBI is busy infiltrating meetings, entrapping some dullard into a plot, equipping and financing his efforts, and then claiming credit for stopping another terrorist attack! Oh wait, that’s happened about 40 times since 9/11. . . .

This new law is that serious. President Obama has claimed he won’t use this power. All that needs to happen now is a provocative incident. Then, all bets are off. Since these nearly unlimited, un-constitutional powers are now law, this President, or a future one, will be able to kidnap and disappear Americans. It could very easily be open season for the police state.