The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 is a bill said to strip Americans of their basic constitutional rights. Many people are also calling this bill “The U.S. Deemed As a Battlefield bill.”
The bill states Americans who are suspected of terrorism can be detained indefinitely by the U.S. Government without legal representation or a trial. Under this bill, Americans would be detained by military as opposed to police and treated like any other prisoner of war.
President Obama has already allegedly promised to veto this bill, though it has already been passed by Congress, but U.S. Senator Carl Levin has accused the President of changing the original wording of the document, so the bill that did not originally include Americans now does.
Senator Levin publicly told Congress last week Obama’s officials were the ones who asked the Senate to change the original wording of the National Defense Authorization Act.
“The administration asked us to remove the language which says that US citizens and lawful residents would not be subject to this section,” Levin said in a statement.
The section President Obama has reworded currently says “any person who has committed a belligerent act” could be held indefinitely; meaning any Americans as well as any foreign person could be treated as a prisoner of war on American soil.
Marine veteran and Eastern Michigan University student A.J. Michael said the language of this bill is too vague, and if it is passed by the president it will eventually “come back to haunt us as Americans.”
Creative writing major Leto Rankine said the very thought of this bill disturbing.
“In light of the Occupy movement, and the treatment of the Occupy protesters, the history of the federal government with groups such as the Black Panthers and the legalization of civilians being held by military tribunals makes me think that we are moving toward an authoritarian government which is a huge move away from democracy,” Rankine said.
Matt Hendley, who was active in the Army for six years, completed three tours of Iraq, is a member of the Army Reserves, and a member of the ROTC, said he is familiar with the bill and it is being blown out of proportion.
“The purpose of this bill is not to set up a state of martial law in the country.,” he said. “It is to allow certain military intelligence services to run operations on U.S. soil. This law is meant to augment local, state and federal law enforcement wherever needed. Every other modern country allows their military to work inside of their country, and most of those countries are safer than ours because of it.”
EMU student Matt Brown is majoring in dietetics and also served in the U.S. Army. He said he doesn’t like the sound of this bill.
“If the President passes this bill, I think the American people will see it as President Obama pushing for more control over the American people,” he said. “I think there needs to be more coverage on this issue. It really gives the government the opportunity to control anyone who they see as a threat. I am worried about this bill going through, because I don’t think the American people pay enough attention to what the government is doing and before they know it all of our civil liberties will be stripped away.
“When I joined the military almost eight years ago I took an oath to defend this country from enemies both foreign and domestic. I would hope that my leaders are making the right calls because history has shown the “I was following orders” excuse is not an excuse for crimes against humanity.”
