Court Says Military May Hold Citizens; Inside Symantec’s Central Command; Security Breach at Sikorsky Aircraft; India Tests Missile, Boosts Nuclear Security

Court Says Military May Hold Citizens

A federal appeals court yesterday upheld nearly unlimited power for President Bush to order the capture of U.S. citizens, and any others found among enemy forces overseas, and to detain them indefinitely while the war on terrorism continues, according to an article in todays Boston Globe. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in Richmond, dismissed a constitutional challenge waged on behalf of a captured citizen, Yaser Esam Hamdi, refusing to examine the reasons for holding him. According to the Globe, Hamdi has been held since he was taken prisoner with Taliban forces in Afghanistan in November 2001. He has been charged with no crime and has been held without any legal rights. His case is in court only because his father hired a lawyer to challenge his detention. The decision made clear that the president has the sweeping powers granted the executive in time of war, even if the United States is not engaged in a declared war. The Globe quotes Eric M. Freedman, a Hofstra Law School professor and specialist on the rights of people held in custody, as saying the ruling will have ”the practical effect of eviscerating the judiciary as an independent check on the executive branch.” Inside Symantec’s Central CommandWashington Post offers a glimpse inside the central command of Symantec, where analysts monitor the Internet for hacker attacks. The Post reports that on a recent Friday there were more than 16,000 attempts to break in to the networks of Symantec clients.

Today’s

Security Breach at Sikorsky AircraftHartford Courant. The accused got jobs at Sikorsky subcontractors that came with security badges allowing the workers access to classified and sensitive areas of Sikorsky, which manufactures helicopters for the U.S. military. None of the suspects was charged with stealing classified materials or being involved in terrorist activities, federal authorities said.

Ten people have been arrested on charges they used fake immigration documents and lied about their pasts to get security clearances at Sikorsky Aircraft, according to an AP report today in the

India Tests Missile, Boosts Nuclear SecurityReuters report this morning. India has a no first strike policy but Pakistan has not ruled out using nuclear weapons first if its territory is threatened. Reuters reports that defense experts said the missile tests were unlikely to re-ignite military tensions between India and Pakistan because they were seen as routine. Britain said the Indian missile test sent a wrong signal to the region and beyond.

India today test fired a shorter-range version of its nuclear-capable Agni missile, capable of striking almost any part of Pakistan, that analysts said would boost defenses against its nuclear-armed neighbor, according to a