In Boumediene v. Bush (2008), the Supreme Court upheld the right to independent judicial review for enemy combatants. This decision followed several years of Bush Administration attempts to manage terrorist suspects captured on the battlefield. It comes as no coincidence that, soon thereafter, when the Obama Administration inherited this conundrum, the use of drone strikes intensified and accelerated. See link here for a full accounting.

For your discussion question this week, take a position on the issue of terrorist detention and due process. Should the U.S. take steps to capture terrorists on the battlefield, provide due process and try them in U.S. courts as required by the Supreme Court, or are targeted drone strikes a more effective solution? Be sure to look at both sides of this contentious issue and identify the tactical, strategic, and moral issues that decisions makers must confront.