Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I wish to share a few remarks about the recent arrest of the Faisal Shahzad, the individual who allegedly attempted to detonate a car bomb in Times Square in a plot to kill a lot of Americans. I have been asked about that incident several times over the last several days, and I think I was incorrect in making comments to reporters and even to friends about the precise legal situation in which we are involved. Let me briefly summarize what I think the current state of the law is, and all of us will then be better able to respond to the questions we may be asked. The Christmas Day bombing suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, as was established pretty quickly, is an unprivileged enemy belligerent and is thus eligible to be tried for his offenses and detained as a person at war against the United States. Mr. Abdulmutallab is an individual who could be held as a prisoner of war, if the military so chooses, for so long as the hostilities continue, just as we did in World War II and every war the United States has been part of. Also, the military would be entitled to try Mr. Abdulmutallab, the Christmas Day bomber, by military commission. That is what we would normally do, and that is what was done in World War II when we caught Nazi saboteurs plotting to blow up targets in the U.S. I believed the administration made a mistake when they treated Mr.…”