U.S. a Battlefield, Solicitor General Tells Judges

Case of Man Held 3 Years Without Trial Focuses Attention on Administration's Anti-Terror Policies

By Tom Jackman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 20, 2005; Page A09

RICHMOND, July 19 -- A top government attorney declared Tuesday that, in the war on terror, the United States is a battlefield, and therefore President Bush has the authority to detain enemy combatants indefinitely in this country.

Solicitor General Paul D. Clement's comments came as a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit is considering whether to overturn a lower court ruling that Jose Padilla should be charged with a crime or released. In 2002, Padilla, a former Chicago gang member and Muslim convert, was taken into custody by the military and has been held without trial since.