Ben Wittes on how the GOP's demand for an "overarching detention policy" in the "Pledge to America" doesn't actually include one:
The most sadly laughable part is that is that Points #2 and #3 collectively bear the header, “Demand an Overarching Detention Policy.” I'm not sure I know anyone who has argued seriously for a comprehensive detention policy who would describe those two principles as even correct, let alone comprehensive. Civilian court terrorism trials have a role to play, after all, and sometimes, advising a suspect of his rights is just good sense. And yeah, there's something missing from this comprehensive detention policy–to wit, a detention policy. Just as the slogan “Close Guantanamo” confused a policy for a venue, the slogan “Don't Close Guantanamo” does precisely the same thing. Under a heading promising a detention policy, the GOP document has literally nothing to say about when we should detain whom or what rules and procedures we should use in doing so.
One other thought: It is hard to oppose accountability for releases gone bad -- and I don't mean to do so. Still, when the only thing one has to say about detention policy is that we'll hold the administration accountable for any terrorists it releases, one is really saying that one opposes releases under any circumstances. A measure of doubt, after all, will always attend a release. If we take the idea seriously that we should release detainees only when we know to a certainty that they pose no danger, the idea will paralyze us completely. This was not the approach of the Bush administration, and it should not be the approach of the current administration either. Rather, releases involve risk, and our policy in all matters related to terrorism should be one of responsible risk management. That’s not the kind of thing one says in a campaign document, but it is a basic principle of governance.
They're also not really saying they're in favor of accountability for releases gone bad -- they're in favor of holding the Obama administration accountable for releases gone bad. The Obama administration claims that all the detainees suspected of terrorist activity since release were let go by their predecessors. At that point you have to acknowledge that there have been more than 700 people imprisoned at Gitmo, the vast majority of whom have not become involved in terrorism since, which suggests most of them weren't actually terrorists.
The GOP -- Lindsey Graham excepted -- can't develop a workable, overarching detention policy because it would require them to determine some criteria for discerning who the U.S. is justified in holding and who it isn't, and they've spent the last two years telling everyone that there's no such thing as an innocent person accused of terrorism. Culture-war counterterrorism makes for great soundbites, not responsible policy.
