GOP Wants to Declare WW III "Until the Termination of Hostilities"

Assuming that the following is real, and not a "red herring" serving to distract us from something like...oh, I don't know, the treasury tapping pension funds to help fund government...

Only three weeks after the Navy Seals, supposedly, shot Osama Bin Laden in the face, and, it appears an official declaration of endless war may be in the works.  Rep. Howard McKeon (R-Calif.), the chairman of the Armed Services Committee inserted  language - so broad and vague that it could essentially be used to justify anything -  into the 2012 National Defense Authorization Bill.  It authorizes the president to declare a state of permanent war (against all nations, organizations, and persons, both domestically and abroad), with no congressional approval required. It's to come up for a vote before congress soon. President Obama  did not request the sweeping powers, as it believes it already has all the authority it needs to wage the terror war.

This "sleeper provision" hidden deep in the text of defense bill could become "the single biggest hand-over of unchecked war authority from Congress to the executive branch in modern American history."  It fails to define enemies or borders, fails to define "hostilities", fails to define “belligerents,” who could be detained without trial until the end of time, and would grant the president – and every president that follows – sweeping new power to make war almost anywhere they suspect terrorists may reside - including, right here in the United States, against American citizens -  regardless of whether there has been any harm to U.S. citizens, or any attack on the United States, or any imminent threat of an attack.  Moreover, the bill requires that all arrests related to terrorism be treated as military arrests, thus circumventing the constitution.

The "sleeper provision" can be found on p. 134 of the H.R. 1540—FY12 NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILL

Congress affirms that:

(1) the United States is engaged in an armed conflict with al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated forces and that those entities continue to pose a threat to the United States and its citizens, both domestically and abroad;

(2) the President has the authority to use all necessary and appropriate force during the current armed conflict with al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated forces pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107–40; 50 U.S.C. 1541 note);

(3) the current armed conflict includes nations, organization, and persons who—

(A) are part of, or are substantially supporting, al‐Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners; or

(B) have engaged in hostilities or have directly supported hostilities in aid of a nation, organization, or person described in subparagraph (A); and

(4) the President’s authority pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107–40; 50 U.S.C. 1541 note) includes the authority to detain belligerents, including persons described in paragraph (3), until the termination of hostilities.

The establishment media outlets (Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, etc.) are spinning the proposed language as harmless.  However, in a nation where activist equals terrorist, the ambiguity and wording of the bill is anything but harmless.
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House Democrats Protest GOP's plan for permanent war against terror. - Nearly three dozen House Democrats are calling on Republicans to withdraw a section of the 2012 defense authorization bill that they say would effectively declare a state of permanent war against unnamed Taliban and al Qaeda operatives.