Former Sen. Tom Daschle wrote an interesting commentary for The Washington Post challenging the White House’s assertion that Congress granted it power to wiretap U.S. citizens without warrants when it passed legislation in 2001 authorizing force against al-Qaida.
Daschle points out that the president asked for a last-minute change in the wording of the legislation that would have granted him the right to use the expansive powers in the United States as well as overseas. The change was denied.
Daschle wrote, “The Bush administration now argues those powers were inherently contained in the resolution adopted by Congress — but at the time, the administration clearly felt they weren’t or it wouldn’t have tried to insert the additional language.”
Posted by Melissa Cooley
In a commentary on Friday’s Opinion pages, Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, took The Eagle editorial board to task for criticizing his opposition to the McCain amendment banning torture. He argued that spelling out approved interrogation techniques in advance tips off terrorists and gives them an advantage.
While the advantage to terrorists is open to debate, it’s beyond question that our soldiers and intelligence agents in the field need and deserve clearer interrogation guidelines; indeed, the vague, mixed signals on interrogations coming out of the Pentagon and White House have contributed to documented abuses at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere, inflicted severe damage to America’s image, and unfairly placed soldiers at legal risk.
Clear anti-torture guidelines don’t just protect our nation’s values — they protect and support our troops.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Sometimes inaction is the smartest action, as Congress showed on two issues this week. First, it removed a provision authorizing oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from a defense spending bill. If drilling in ANWR is a good idea, it should be able to pass on its own merit. Second, Congress decided to extend the USA Patriot Act, which was set to expire on Dec. 31, through Feb. 3. That gives lawmakers more time to find the right balance between security concerns and civil liberty protections.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
