The Merkley amendment calling for a swifter withdrawal from Afghanistan passed on Wednesday. And a “compromise” was forced on Thursday over the section allowing process-free imprisonment of anyone, including U.S. citizens.
Sadly, the so-called compromise simply states that this new law will not change existing law. Yet this new law’s language is worse than existing written law, and the Obama Administration’s view of existing law is worse still.
We must demand a veto of this bill more clearly and loudly than ever.
This meaningless compromise was reach after the Senate voted down both Udall’s amendment stripping out the offending language and an amendment from Feinstein creating an exception for U.S. citizens to the newly codified presidential power to imprison people without charge or trial.