Mukasey: Procedures needed for detainees

WASHINGTON, July 21 (UPI) -- U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey said Monday the United States has every right to detain enemy combatants.

In remarks at the American Enterprise Institute, Mukasey discussed the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision granting prisoners held at at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the right to challenge their detention in federal court.

"The United States has every right to capture and detain enemy combatants in this conflict, and need not simply release them to return to the battlefield, as indeed some have after their release from Guantanamo," Mukasey said. "We have every right to prevent them from returning to kill our troops or those fighting with us, and to target innocent civilians.

"In addition, this detention often yields valuable intelligence about the intentions, organization, operation and tactics of our enemies. In short, detaining dangerous enemy combatants is lawful, and it makes this country safer."

Mukasey said rules laid out for handling prisoners in past wars do not apply to current conflicts since "non-state terrorists … wear no uniforms and abide by neither laws nor the norms of civilization."

Mukasey called on Congress and the Bush administration to come up with rules for allowing detainees access to the courts, keeping national security requirements in mind, since the recent decision was mute on procedures.