http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/284393/andrew-napolitano-s-mistake-andrew-c-mccarthy
Andrew Napolitano’s Mistake
The McCain-Levin amendment does not authorize civil-liberties violations.
I really hope tea-party groups resist taking legal counsel from hysterions such as Fox News’s resident constitutional “expert,” Andrew Napolitano. On Tuesday morning, “the Judge” could be heard on the news railing about the McCain-Levin amendment to the defense-authorization bill (an amendment strongly supported by Senators Lieberman, Graham, Ayotte, and others). Napolitano contended that Congress is proposing to turn the entire globe into a battlefield and give President Obama the authority to have the U.S. armed forces swoop down on American cities and towns, arbitrarily detaining U.S. citizens on the mere say-so that they are enemies of the state. These contentions are absurd.
The only real question about the McCain-Levin amendment is whether it is necessary at all. It does not change existing law in any meaningful way. Essentially, it reaffirms the authority Congress conferred on the commander-in-chief in the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) that was enacted days after the 9/11 attacks.
Most Americans will recall that those attacks killed nearly 3,000 of our fellow citizens in the course of suicide-hijacking strikes on the financial district in New York City and the U.S.-military headquarters in Virginia, as well as an attempted decapitation strike against U.S. political leadership in Washington. Most Americans will recall that, from coast to coast, cities and towns have been targets of numerous attempted enemy attacks in the ensuing decade. We’ll also remember that these plots against our country have occurred against a backdrop of al-Qaeda attacks in Europe, Asia, and Africa.
That is to say, no act of Congress turned the United States and the globe into a battlefield. Al-Qaeda did that. The terror network declared war against America, threatening our interests and citizens throughout the world. Its tactic of choice is terrorist atrocities — carried out at any time in any place against any target, civilian or military.