Bush administration memos claimed vast war powers

Bush administration memos claimed vast war powers

Published: March 3, 2009

The secret legal opinions issued by Bush administration lawyers after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks included assertions that the president could use the nation's military within the United States to combat people deemed as terrorists and to conduct raids without obtaining a search warrant.

That opinion was among nine that were disclosed publicly for the first time Monday by the Justice Department, in what the Obama administration portrayed as a step toward greater transparency. The opinions showed a broad interpretation of presidential authority, asserting as well that the president could unilaterally abrogate foreign treaties, deal with detainees suspected of terrorism while rejecting input from Congress and conduct a warrantless eavesdropping program.

..........


Yoo and Delahunty also said in the Oct. 23 memorandum that "First Amendment speech and press rights may also be subordinated to the overriding need to wage war successfully." They added that the "current campaign against terrorism may require even broader exercises of federal power domestically."

Yoo said the Posse Comitatus Act, a statute first enacted in 1878 and since renewed, would also not present an obstacle to the use of the armed forces. The Posse Comitatus Act generally forbids the use of military forces in domestic law enforcement.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/03/america/terror.php




I bet they regret not going far enough.

oh there's much more

demonstrate the idiocy of the unitary executive theory. It was based on the idea that Bush always acted in good faith and in the best interests of the public. Thus, if he claimed he needed to torture someone and keep them locked up for years without charges, well it must have been a brilliant patriotic thing to do.