Don’t tie new president’s hands

Don’t tie new president’s hands

Miami Herald: In its few remaining months in office, the Bush administration is making questionable moves to extend its influence on policies involving security and the war on terror well beyond Jan. 20, 2009. One such action involves a rewriting of intelligence procedures and the role of the FBI, giving the agency sweeping new investigative authority. Last week, it was disclosed that the administration also wants Congress to affirm what amounts to a new declaration of war against al-Qaida and the Taliban, which could institutionalize the president’s broad — and dubious — interpretation of the chief executive’s wartime powers.

The administration has failed to show why this is necessary, particularly just as it is going out the door and Congress and the nation are focused on the political campaign. At least the administration should explain why this can’t wait for the next president.

What little is known about the attempt to bolster the FBI’s authority comes from closed-door briefings on Capitol Hill regarding proposed new guidelines that Attorney General Michael Mukasey is reviewing. According to a letter sent to Mukasey by four members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the new rules would, among other things, permit the FBI to subject innocent citizens to “intrusive surveillance” based on race, ethnicity, nationality or religion.

In addition to promoting intrusive new investigative tools, the administration also wants Congress to acknowledge “that this nation remains engaged in an armed conflict with al-Qaida, the Taliban and associated organizations ...” Civil liberties experts warn that this could provide the legal framework to extend policies such as the indefinite detention of enemy combatants at Guantanamo.

Congress should leave it up to the next president to decide, instead of tying his hands with proposals by an outgoing administration. administration.