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Obama Drops Use Of 'Enemy Combatant'

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The Washington Post

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 14, 2009

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration on Friday dropped the term "enemy combatant" as a label for people held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and increased the legal threshold needed to detain them.

The Justice Department disclosed the move in a court filing in response to a federal judge's order seeking a definition of the term "enemy combatant."

Judges have said the definition will play a key role in determining whether the government has justified the confinement of scores of detainees who are challenging their status in U.S. District Court.

In a break with the Bush administration's policies, the Justice Department said it would seek to detain only those who "substantially supported" the Taliban, al-Qaida or associated forces or participated in the Sept. 11 attacks.

"As we work towards developing a new policy to govern detainees, it is essential that we operate in a manner that strengthens our national security, is consistent with our values and is governed by law," Attorney General Eric Holder says in a written statement.

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