I know you got this from a Team Obama web site. So it does not have much weight. Moreover, I can assure you the person who wrote it did not know what they were talking about. It's obvious because it lacks clarity, chronicle order, and straight to the point. It's a smoke screen.
I did not even bother with your second link. Sorry but don't want to look at another smoke screen from the administration.
1) If this has nothing to do with it, then why would the Administration insist on striking the language?
2) Furthermore, why would Obama himself, more or less, note paraphrasing “Don't worry I will not use this power”?
If he does not have the power and this is just another normal bill...., then why would he even mention it???
” know you got this from a Team Obama web site. So it does not have much weight. Moreover, I can assure you the person who wrote it did not know what they were talking about. It’s obvious because it lacks clarity, chronicle order, and straight to the point. It’s a smoke screen.”
It isnt from the administration, it is from an independent poster at dialy kos-not from the Obama team- and it is not any more poorly written and not any more of a smoke sreen than that Jonathon Turley column.
For the other questions,
1. It could be because the Administration AND members of COngress as I am unconvinced that the administration were the only ones who insisted on it, was because they didnt want to have only one clause exlude US citizens; what if other parts the bill were then interpreted as directly applying to US citizens ? That is how sticky and muddled the law can get.
2. Because he is aware of the public outcry over the concern about the possibility of NDAA being used to detain Americans without trial, and so he wants to keep some public support by binding himself to a signing statement, even though the bill does not specifically allow the administration more power than it had to detain Americans. And he knows that the military would hold him accountable and refuse to support detaining Americans for protesting. For all the problems and complaints about Obama, the guy knows about public relations. That’s a critical thing that got him elected in the first place, after all.
Remember the explanation of NDAA I mentioned at lawfareblog by Benjamin Wittes and Robert Chesney? Dont tell me those guys dont know what they are talking about either.
BTW, that first link was mostly text taken directly from the senate processions and only a small part of it was the author’s commentary.