[kahljorn]

it's not up to inpretation, it clearly states that it only applies to aliens-- which are non-us citizens.

the jose padilla incident happened before any of this.

the "mca" has always been in effect, this recent fiasco is just an ammendum to a law that already existed.

" unlawful enemy combatant"
Yes they could be American Citizens by DEFINITION-- the reason for this is that the DEFINITION of UNLAWFUL ENEMY COMBATANT is not defined as only ALIENS. HOWEVER, the LAWS themselves state, "Alien unlawful enemy combatant."
Therefore, regardless of if an american citizen were defined as an unlawful enemy combatant, according to the LAWS they couldn't be charged because the LAWS THEMSELVES can ONLY BE APPLIED TO ALIEN UNLAWFUL ENEMY COMBATANTS.

That means the laws that say no speedy trial, no rights to habeus corpus etc. apply to ALIENS ONLY. Whereas, yes, American Citizens could be declared unlawful enemy combatants; the laws could still not apply to them. Comprende? We would still have the same rights, we'd just be declared an unlawful enemy combatant-- which means fucking nothing.
This is just a bunch of blown up shit idiots like you get fixated over. If you're going to complain about something, complain about the patriot act.

I hate the fucking examples on that wikipedia page, "Let's say my wife is walking by a military base and SWOOOP SHES PICKED UP AS AN UNLAWFUL ENEMY COMBATANT". What the fuck? You have to commit a crime first. All these ridiculous hypothetical situations are gay, "What if you accidently contribute to a charity that aids in terrorist actions huh DID YOU THINK ABOUT THAT ONE IT COULD HAPPEN RIGHT GUSY???"