The White House is considering endorsing a law that would allow the indefinite detention of some alleged terrorists without trial as part of efforts to break a logjam with Congress over President Barack Obama’s plans to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Monday.
Last summer, White House officials said they had ruled out seeking a “preventive detention” statute as a way to deal with anti-terror detainees, saying the administration would hold any Guantanamo prisoners brought to the U.S. in criminal courts or under the general “law of war” principles permitting detention of enemy combatants.
However, speaking at a news conference in Greenville, S.C., Monday, Graham said the White House now seems open to a new law to lay out the standards for open-ended imprisonment of those alleged to be members of or fighters for Al Qaeda or the Taliban.
While he can be wobbly on certain issues, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) did an excellent job on FNC today assailing the administration's ill-conceived counter-terrorism policies when it comes to treating enemy combatants as common criminals:
While Graham conceded that Gitmo is the best run prison in the world, he said he is nonetheless willing to support the administration's effort to shut down the prison provided the White House adopts a "national security-centric system."
