On the recordNovember 30, 2011
Simply stated, if a person decides to collaborate with al-Qaida in a very limited way, can we hold them? They have to be a member of al-Qaida or affiliated with it or be involved in a hostile act. But if they do those things, historically, American citizens who chose to side with the Nazis--in this case, al-Qaida--have been viewed by the rest of us not as a common criminal but as a military threat. Now is not the time to change that. We need that ability to question that person: Why did you join al-Qaida? Where did you train? What do you know about what is coming next? And the only way we can get that information is to hold them as an enemy combatant and take all the time we need to protect this Nation and interrogate.
