HENTOFF: Will Obama protect civil liberties?

Excuse me, but I am having difficulty trying to figure out why we should not consider as an enemy combatant "anyone who has purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States." Hello! Our "civil liberties" illuminati seem to be forgetting that Americans also have the civil right to be protected from our enemies. That's what Presidents do.

I agree with Mr. Hentoff to the point he makes about "without any evidence to support that charge". That does seem to fly in the face of the Constitution. Security has it's limits at the price of freedom. This is a direct action to a citizen and is different than when a computer program searches data to find a likely series of actions by an anonymous individual that fits a predetermined criteria, thus a probable cause evidentiary level has been established.

Leahy is pushing it if he believes simply raising money for a charity means one has "purposely and materially supported hostilities against the United States". I cannot think of anyone more prone to fit the description in the article than Bill Ayers. He walks free so why should I worry?

Leahy shows an understanding of Islamic philosophy that the West does not understand. There is no separation of politics and theology in Islam and the same "charities" that collect money to help the poor, fund weapons as well (I saw this in Beirut from Hezbollah curbside donation collections). Our lack of understanding of the radical difference between Western and Islamic thought will defeat us, unless we become less cultural-centric.