Posted on 10/09/2013 7:08:11 AM PDT by Starman417
In a time when the current administration appears to favor kills over capture as well as "catch and release", last Saturday Abu Anas al-Libi (Zawahiri's man in Libya) survived President Obama's kill list to be captured instead of droned upon:
Since President Obama stepped into the White House, his administration has had a rather consistent reaction when it located an accused terrorist: drop a Hellfire missile on the guy's head. Saturday was different. U.S. forces got the drop on an al-Qaeda operative named Nazhi Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai. But rather than drone him, those forces put him in cuffs. That not only marks a rather dramatic departure from what has been standard Obama administration policy. It could open a new chapter in the struggle against Islamic terror.Al-Ruqai, better known by his nom de guerre Abu Anas al-Libi, is accused of helping plan the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998. He was captured on Saturday "under military authorities" and "is currently lawfully detained under the law of war in a secure location outside of Libya," Pentagon spokesman George Little said in a statement. The operation was approved by President Obama and was reportedly carried out with the assistance of FBI and CIA personnel. "Wherever possible, our first priority is and always has been to apprehend terrorist suspects, and to preserve the opportunity to elicit valuable intelligence that can help us protect the American people," Little said.
Capture may be the priority, but it's not the norm. The Obama administration has killed far more suspected terrorists and militants with drones and special operations strikes than it has brought back to face justice in the U.S. courts system.
Purportedly, al-Libi is being detained and interrogated aboard the USS San Antonio. Given that President Obama upon his 2nd day in office "killed" the CIA interrogation program, what kind of interrogation process do you speculate the HVT to be going through?
The NYTimes labeled him an "intelligence gold mine, possessing perhaps two decades of information about Al Qaeda" in an article last Sunday. Apparently, al-Libi's rendition is modeled after the 2011 capture and prosecution of Warsame, who was interrogated for about a week aboard a black site naval ship (the USS Boxer) before being read his Miranda Rights, and then successfully moved from military detention to criminal prosecution, as well as apparent cooperation, thanks to standard interrogation techniques (which is what HVTs under the Bush-era CIA interrogation program typically went through, as well; EITs were only applied to about 30 of 100 who were resistant to standard techniques).
Secretary of State John Kerry is justifying the "kidnapping" of al-Libi as "legal".
Do the Geneva Conventions apply to the detention of al-Libi? Not if the Obama Administration is following the Bush team definition for "unlawful enemy combatant":
Obama Administration lawyers must have concluded that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to Warsame and al-Libi, or that they are not POWs, or that they are not being interned.The Bush Administration, of course, was much criticized (including by officials now in the Obama Administration) for holding al-Qaida detainees under the laws of war (rather than as criminal suspects) and for not applying the Geneva Conventions to them. The Bush Administration was accused of “cherry-picking” among the laws of war — relying on the laws of war for detention authority but not applying the Geneva Conventions. But, as I have explained previously, despite affirming its commitment to the Geneva Conventions, the Obama Administration has not applied the Conventions as a legal framework differently than its predecessor and, in particular, has not treated al-Qaida detainees as POWs under the Third Convention or as Protected Persons under the Fourth Convention.
As with its drone program, if the Administration wants domestic critics and U.S. allies to support unprecedented counter-terrorism policies, it should explain the legal rules it is applying, and why the combined law-of-war/criminal law enforcement model is permissible under international law.
More:
"My guess is that the Obama Administration does not consider al-Libi to qualify as a POW because al-Qaida is not a party to the Geneva Conventions," which apply only to countries, not necessarily non-state actors. Bellinger has referred to the Obama administration's approach to Warsame and Libi as the "combined law-of-war/criminal law enforcement model." According to the Times, Libi's interrogators aboard the USS San Antonio still must adhere to the Army Field Manual, which prohibits torture.
Speaking of the NYTimes' Monday piece in speculating on Obama-era interrogation practices:
Q. Who is conducting it? A. The interrogation is almost certainly being conducted by a high-value interrogation group, which includes members from various government agencies. The F.B.I. leads the group, with help from specialists from other agencies like the C.I.A., the State Department and the Defense Intelligence Agency. The groups were conceived in 2009 as part of President Obama’s revisions to the interrogation policies that he inherited from President George W. Bush. Such panels are made up of regional specialists with expertise in the language, culture and background of the suspect, and they may be assisted by agents and analysts who were already tracking him.Q. What techniques may they use?
A. Under an executive order issued by Mr. Obama in 2009, they must obey the restrictions of the Army Field Manual, which was written to comply with the Geneva Conventions and forbids torture and lesser forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The manual largely permits a variety of “rapport building” techniques, including direct questioning, the “good cop, bad cop” routine, tricking a detainee into revealing more information, inducing him to brag about his exploits, appealing to his emotions or threatening him with severe legal consequences (though threats of torture are not allowed) and offering incentives for cooperation. It requires that a detainee receive at least four hours of continuous sleep every 24 hours.
The article notes what Mata often used to point out- that President Obama was using Bagram as Club Gitmo Eeast:
(Excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net...
Keelhaul him around the Atlantic for awhile. Throw some chum in for good measure.
"It requires that a detainee receive at least four hours of continuous sleep every 24 hours."
This is the last of a short list of pansy ass techniques allowed in "interrogating" a detainee.
Any sworn enemy warrior is in top form for at least 48 hrs after 4 continuous hours of sleep.
National Lawyers Guild, Code Pink and the other usual suspects going ape-doo in 3....2....1......
And somewhere, Dick Cheney is smiling.
Suspected Plotter of US Embassy attacks Abu Anas al Libi Dies in New York
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