海角大神

President Obama is taking swift and dramatic action to shift the direction of America鈥檚 efforts to fight terrorism, counter the threat from Al Qaeda, and safeguard the nation. On Thursday, on his second full day in the White House, Mr. Obama signed three executive orders and a memorandum that provide the broad outline of a major overhaul of US national security policy. The actions mark not only a sharp departure and rejection, but a rebuke, of policies that formed the backbone of President Bush鈥檚 global war on terror.

Mr. Obama鈥檚 executive orders call for:

鈥� Closing the terror prison camp at Guantanamo within a year.

鈥� Closing 鈥渁s expeditiously as possible鈥� all secret CIA prisons overseas.

鈥� Banning the use of waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics not authorized by the Army Field Manual.

鈥� Requiring the International Red Cross be granted access to any individual detained by the US in any armed conflict.

鈥� Requiring that all US detainees be treated in accord with at least the minimal protections of the Geneva Conventions.

鈥淲e are not going to continue with a false choice between our safety and our ideals,鈥� Obama said, shortly after signing the orders. 鈥淭he message that we are sending around the world is that the United States intends to prosecute the ongoing struggle against violence and terrorism,鈥� Obama said. 鈥淎nd we are going to do so vigilantly, we are going to do so effectively, and we are going to do so in a manner that is consistent with our values and our ideals.鈥�

National security experts who had been critics of the Bush administration are praising Obama鈥檚 fast action. But many are still cautiously awaiting the details and fine print of his changes. 鈥淲hat is extraordinarily significant here is the dramatic change in tone,鈥� says Aziz Huq, director of the Liberty and National Security Project at the Brennan Center for Justice.

Mr. Huq says the Bush administration insisted it did not condone torture, but produced legal memos authorizing interrogation techniques that amounted to torture. 鈥淵ou have gone from an administration that was saying one thing and doing another, to an administration that is saying quite clearly that we mean to hew to the rule of law and we mean it seriously,鈥� Huq says. 鈥淭hat is a dramatic and important change,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hat remains to be seen is how that position works itself out in the details.鈥�

In addition to the three executive orders on Thursday, Obama signed a memo calling for a review of the case of Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri, a Qatar national, who has been held without charge in a South Carolina naval brig as an enemy combatant for five years. The government says he was a sleeper agent sent by Al Qaeda to engage in a second wave of attacks after 9/11.

The US Supreme Court has agreed to examine the legality of his ongoing detention. The case is expected to be set for oral argument in March or April and be decided by late June. It marks the most significant Supreme Court test yet of the Bush administration鈥檚 controversial legal approach to the war on terror.

At issue in the case is whether the president has the power to designate a legal US resident, which Mr. al-Marri was at the time of his apprehension, as an enemy combatant and order that person held indefinitely in military detention. The Obama administration has asked the high court for a 30-day extension to file its brief, and the president鈥檚 memo directs US officials to 鈥渦ndertake a prompt and thorough review of the factual and legal basis for al-Marri鈥檚 continued detention.鈥� The memo says the officials should 鈥渋dentify and thoroughly evaluate alternative dispositions.鈥�

Al-Marri鈥檚 lawyer, Jonathan Hafetz of the American Civil Liberties Union, says he is hopeful the Obama administration will reject the legal position of the Bush administration. He says the new administration should release his client and allow him to return home to his family in Qatar.

鈥淎ny objective and clear-minded review will show that this detention is illegal,鈥� Mr. Hafetz says. 鈥淲e fully expect that if the Obama administration goes forward [with the case], Al-Marri鈥檚 detention will be struck down by the Supreme Court.鈥�

In statements from human rights experts, Obama won high praise for his fast action on Guantanamo and banning torture.

鈥淎merica鈥檚 greatest strengths 鈥� our core values 鈥� are once again clear to the world,鈥� said Douglas Johnson, executive director of the Center for Victims of Torture.

Jennifer Kaskal, senior counterterrorism counsel at Human Rights Watch, called it 鈥渁 major step toward restoring America鈥檚 moral authority around the world.鈥�

Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA, praised Obama for 鈥渕oving quickly to restore the United States鈥� role as a positive force for human rights in the world.鈥� He added, 鈥淲ith a stroke of a pen, President Obama initiated this nation鈥檚 return to the rule of law.鈥�

Not all analysts were pleased with Obama鈥檚 moves.

House Republican Leader John Boehner warned that the new policies and closing Guantanamo might place the country in peril. 鈥淭he Guantanamo Bay prison is filled with the worst of the worst 鈥� terrorists and killers bent on murdering Americans and other friends of freedom around the world,鈥� he said in a statement. 鈥淚f it is closed, where will they go?鈥�

Mr. Boehner added, 鈥淩epublicans want to work with our president to address these national security concerns, but we should not gamble with the safety and security of the American people and our troops on the battlefield.鈥�