Thursday, December 17, President Obama issued an executive order, EO 13524, to amend President Ronald Reagan's Executive Order 12425. This executive order, Amending executive order 12425. Reagan's original was first amended by President Bill Clinton in 1995.
His action is getting a lot of play in the right-wing (and nuttier) blogosphere, however there is little comment in the Main Stream Media and liberal blogosphere. Even the Democratic Underground has only one, mildly hand-wringing mention of the EO.
What does this executive order mean, and does it really endanger American Sovereignty?
Some of the right wingers suggest this a a play to arrest Bush Co and try him for war crimes (places such as the Freepers, Newsbusters and ThreatsWatch) and deny citizen their rights under the Constitution. Even the Democratic Underground sees something to be worried of in this language, as it appears to allow the president and foreign agencies the right to detain anyone labeled an enemy combatant. However, that is likely nothing more than paranoid hyperbole as we already grant Constitutional rights to the terrorists detained in US prisons.
It seems possible that this is a way in which President Obama plans to keep his campaign promise of prosecuting Bush Co for war crimes while also maintaining his ability to stand clear of the mess sure to be created. A centrist road through the mire created by the previous administration?
The EO also seems to give international organizations immunity from FOIA requests. This, of course, has the freepers screaming that President Obama is unleashing a conspiracy to keep his birth certificate private (will they never stop?). It also has some wingers groups grumbling that this will allow organizations like INTERPOL the right to seize American citizens' property as a part of their investigation, but I think this comes as a mis-read of the language. The language states the the other organizations property and assets are protected, not that Americans' are threatened.
Property and assets of international organizations, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search, unless such immunity be expressly waived, and from confiscation. The archives of international organizations shall be inviolable.
I see this as nothing more than a small step toward re-instituting American participation with the International Criminal Courts, something revoked under Bush, and not a sinister plot to bring the United States under some kind of vassalage to the "Evil Socialist European Empire".