August 19, 2011

Every fiscal year, Congress sets and approves the budget for the Department of Defense. This year, H.R. 1540, the National Defense Authorization Act, has passed the House floor and is moving on to the Senate with new amendments in tow. The concerning provisions added on to the bill call for a more active role for the military in US counterterrorism cases and a scaling back of a more diplomatic approach to conflicts internationally.

After 48 amendments to the bill were proposed, 18 were approved, some of which can have devastating consequences to our democracy. House Amendment (H. Amdt.) 343, introduced by Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN), intends to revoke all funding to the United States Institute of Peace — the only organization within the Department of Defense that seeks to use nonviolent conflict management and resolution tools in conflict zones globally. The passing of this amendment should be concerning, especially as experience has shown in the past decade that our military might not always yield the most effective means to addressing conflicts internationally.

However, this pales in comparison to worse additions to the bill. H. Amdt. 323, introduced by Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL), calls for civilians within the United States to be tried under military tribunals, not in the civilian court system. According to the amendment, “any foreign national, who (1) engages or has engaged in conduct constituting an offense relating to a terrorist attack against persons or property in the United States or against any United States Government property or personnel outside the United States … shall be tried for that offense only by a military commission …”

Expanding the role of the military for domestic use in national security issues fundamentally alters our nation’s legal system and the democratic principles it was founded upon.  The amendment requires the military to handle certain cases of terrorism, even if the civilian was arrested on US soil and allows for the detention of these individuals, even if they should not fall under military control.

Furthermore, enacting this bill would create permanent provisions to US law, for suspected civilians to be detained indefinitely without charges or trial. Adding this amendment is detrimental to the historic protections afforded to American citizens as part of the Constitution and similar acts such as the Non-Detention Act of 1971. Using military courts to try criminal suspects, including using indefinite detention, is the work of regimes such as Syria, not the United States.

Worse still, our national security will also suffer. Military tribunals are notoriously ineffective at prosecuting terrorists. Civilian courts, which have effectively brought terrorists of all stripes to justice for more than 200 years, have more than proven their worth. Whereas hastily set up military tribunals in Guantanamo Bay have only led to one prosecution – a measly two-year sentence – while our long-established civilian court system has convicted more than 400 terrorism suspects. Moreover, Attorney General Eric Holder, and various other constitutional law experts have also pushed for civilian courts to continue to try terrorism-based cases based on the idea that our nation’s criminal justice system has proven to have the effectiveness and wherewithal to be successful when ruling.

As Attorney General Holder has noted:

Every single suspected terrorist captured on American soil – before and after the September 11th attacks – has first been taken into custody by law enforcement – not the United States military. Our criminal justice system has proven – time and again – that it provides all the authority and flexibility we need to effectively combat terrorist threats.

Maintaining standards of accountability is an important and time honored tradition within the American political system; as such, the inclusion of these amendments and subsequent passage of the bill on the House floor should be concerning to all citizens. The approval of the provisions may have been few; however, they are detrimental to our foundations of freedom.

We urge all Americans to reach out to their Senators and express their concerns with such provisions in this bill.