Depending on who you believe, the Senate either voted today to limit indefinite detention practices or voted to allow those limits to be determined by the executive branch. You may need a degree in linguistics to figure this one out. First, here’s the basics of what happened: The Senate voted late on Thursday to prohibit [...]

In a significant ruling today, a federal appeals court overturned a conviction of Salim Hamdan, Osama bin Laden’s driver, obtained through a military commission. Judge Brett Kavanaugh, a George W. Bush appointee seen as a possible conservative Supreme Court justice, wrote in a ruling for a three-judge panel of the DC Circuit Court that Hamdan [...]

In a report required by the War Powers Resolution, President Obama for the first time acknowledged that the US has taken “direct action” in Somalia and Yemen to attack remnants of Al Qaeda, spreading the battlefield authorized by the AUMF passed shortly after the September 11 attacks in 2001. In the letter, the President updates [...]

A new poll shows that the lack of forceful opposition to Administration counter-terrorism policies, especially from Congressional Democrats, has led to them becoming broadly popular. This is true even for controversial policies like the continued presence of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, or drone strikes abroad. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that Obama, [...]

The focus on Guantanamo over the past couple years has been misplaced. In fact, the number of detainees there has been dissipating somewhat. The number of detainees at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan, by contrast, has exploded, with detainees captured throughout the world moved over to Bagram – and shielded from any habeas proceedings [...]

Let’s follow up on today’s item about the Taliban opening an office in Qatar, to begin work on a peace and reconciliation deal in Afghanistan. The counterpart to this action was supposed to be the transfer of several Taliban detainees at Guantanamo into Afghan custody. Because of the constraints placed by Congress on the movement [...]

The Taliban has agreed to open an office in Qatar, seen as a precursor to peace talks in Afghanistan. In a statement, Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said that along with agreeing to set up the office in Qatar, the group was asking that Taliban detainees held at the American prison in Guantánamo [...]

The President signed the defense authorization bill today, appending a signing statement expressing concerns with the detainee measures in the bill. The White House had earlier stated they would not veto the bill, so this was no surprise. “I have signed this bill despite having serious reservations with certain provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation, [...]

The future of peace talks with the Taliban to end the Afghanistan war may hinge on thetransfer of a prisoner from Guantanamo Bay. This sign of goodwill could pave the way for broader talks aimed at reconciliation for the Taliban and integration into the Afghan government. But the US is not convinced that they should [...]

Now that we know the state of play on the one year-end bill left outstanding, let’s redirect to the one that’s moving through the system currently. The House just passed the omnibus appropriations bill, funding all government agencies through the rest of the fiscal year, until September 30, 2012. It’s on to the Senate, where [...]

It really looks like the White House is prepared to veto the defense authorization bill, adding on to Congress’ woes at the end of a tumultuous year. FBI Director Robert Mueller testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning, and he declared the defense authorization bill, which contains provisions essentially mandating indefinite military detention of [...]