Senate passes National Defense Authorization Act, White House warns of veto

The United States Senate has passed its edition of a bill that would empower the military to forever detain anyone who is considered to be part of any terrorist activity. Ninety three Senators reportedly voted in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), while seven opposed it and none abstained.

The National Defense Authorization Act allows funds amounting $662 billion for the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and military personnel. According to provisions of Subtitle D of the act, the U.S. military can indefinitely detain anybody, devoid of assuring a trial.

According to the rules of the business, the House will also vote on the bill. It will then square its version of the bill with that of the Senate prior to sending the legislation to the president. It should be noted that in late May the House held a roll call over the bill. The occasion was noted for 322 Representatives supporting the bill, 96 opposing it, while 13 abstained from taking part in the proceedings.

Later on, the Senate came up with a concession amendment in a 99-1 vote. The amendment stated that the National Defense Authorization Act will not affect the existing legal power of the government to jail people captured in the war on terrorism.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration has accused the Senate of political micromanagement of national security. The White House on Friday reiterated its stand to veto a defense bill over the provisions of Subtitle D of National Defense Authorization Act that relates to controversial military detentions of anyone including all U.S. citizens.

It should be noted that in November the Obama administration said that its senior advisers would recommend a veto, stating the detention provisions of the bill could put a limit around the ability of law enforcers to fight terrorism and could make the task of putting off terrorist attacks more difficult.

"Republican and Democratic administrations ... have said that the language in this bill would jeopardize our national security by restricting flexibility in our fight against al Qaeda," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in his daily briefing Friday. "By ignoring these nonpartisan recommendations -- including the recommendations of the secretary of defense, the director of the FBI, the director of national Intelligence and the attorney general -- the Senate has unfortunately engaged in a little political micromanagement at the expense of sensible national security policies."

Analysts also fear that the bill could possibly lead to non-cooperation from allies who may not agree with the U.S. authorities on indefinite detentions. The allies could likely be reluctant to give U.S. authorities leads about terrorists.