Political Quotes

“It has been a long-held concept in American jurisprudence that when an American citizen sides with the enemies of our Nation, they can be captured, held, and treated as an enemy combatant; they have committed an act of war against our country, not a common crime. In World War II, German saboteurs landed on Long Island. They had been planning and training in Germany to blow up a lot of infrastructure--and some of it was in Chicago. So they had this fairly elaborate plan to attack us. They came out of a submarine. They landed on Long Island. And the plan was to have American citizens sympathetic to the Nazi cause--of German origin, most of them--meet them and provide them shelter and comfort. Well, the FBI back then broke up that plot, and they were arrested. The American citizens were tried by military commission, they were found guilty, and a couple of them were executed. Now, there has been a case in the war on terror where an American citizen was captured in Afghanistan. Our Supreme Court reaffirmed the proposition that we can hold one of our own as an enemy combatant when they align themselves with the forces against this country. This Congress, right after the September 11 attacks, designated authorization to use military force against al-Qaida and affiliated groups. So the Congress has given every President since 9/11 the authority to use military force against al-Qaida and affiliated groups.…”