George,

Mr. Ross' piece about the indefinite detention now authorized by the NDAA is a valuable explanation of how our fears lead us to limiting our liberties.

As a Democrat, however, I wonder how Obama shoulders the blame for this amendment to a Defense authorization bill forced by Republican members of the House as a poison pill in the bill. Had he vetoed the bill -- we are at war, after all -- the furor would have been loud.

So far, Mr. Obama's prosecution of the war in Afghanistan and withdrawal of troops from Iraq have muted any GOP criticism of his defense policy (leave aside the yammering of the dwarfs running for the GOP nomination) which can only help his re-election efforts. Now, he has the opportunity to submit legislation that will restore the right of habeas corpus and challenge the GOP on their efforts to gut this most basic of our liberties.

If he does not do that, then all of us should be concerned.

Al Weed (Electronic mail, January 12, 2012)