Human Rights Activists Assail President Obama's Decision on Military Commissions

"The Obama administration will seek series of administrative changes tomorrow, which are subject to 60 days of congressional review. The White House will also seek additional reforms through Congress -- though what those will be are not entirely clear yet. A Detention Policy Task Force – co-chaired by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Attorney General Eric Holder – was set up by executive order in January 2009 to review policy options on detention for future, and that task force will work on details, consulting with Congress.

As a senator, Mr. Obama supported military commissions, though he voted against the version pushed by the Bush administration, which ultimately passed the Senate and was found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. In 2006, then-Sen. Obama voted for a military tribunal bill originally drafted by former Sen. John Warner, R-Virginia, and GOP Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. That bill had passed out of the Senate Armed Services Committee, but was changed significantly in negotiations with the Bush White House and GOP-led Congress.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., offered the original Warner/McCain/Graham bill as a substitute to the bill being supported by President Bush and the Senate Majority Leader. Levin's effort, supported by Obama, failed.



More: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/05/president-oba-7.html