blog 6

        Hello, I am Jielei Mei in ENG101. In this blog, I am responding to an assignment which asks me to discuss whether or not there is connection between Zeitoun’s detention and the indefinite detention of the NDAA. However, I believe Zeitoun’s detention is related to the indefinite detention of the NDAA.

        The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2012 is a United States Federal law signed into the U.S. law by President Barack Obama. It was passed by the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate. It was responsible for the budget and expenditures of the United States Department of Defense specifically and other provisions. The detention sections of the NDAA begin by "affirm" that the authority of the President under the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terroriosts(AUMF), a joint resolution passed in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks. It gives the president the power to hold any person (including U.S. citizen) who support al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that against the United States or its coalition partners in aid of such enemy forces. According to the article National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, “the Act was strongly opposed by the American Civil Libeties Union, Amnesty International, Human International, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, The Center for Constitutional Rights,The Cato Institute, Reason Magazine and The Council on American - Islamic Relations". The controversy was to prevent the abuse of Presidential authority and protect the U.S. citizens’ benefit. For instance, they opposed that they shouldn’t be held indefinitely. In my opinion, the indefinite detention is not an appropriate policy. It is easy to cause the abuse of presidential authorization.

     Personally, Zeitoun’s experience has strongly connection with the indefinite detention of NDAA. During Hurricane Katrina, Zeitoun was arrested into the prison without knowing any reason and didn’t allow make phone call to connect with anybody. In the book Zeitoun, Eggers wrote that “only Todd had been told why they were being held – possession of stolen goods was the only charge mentioned and none had been allowed to make a phone call” (221). Zeitoun and three friends were arrested into prison but only one of his friend Todd knew the reason he was arrested. Three of them were held without any reason. As far as I am concerned, it is a phenomenon of indefinite detention. Because the reason of people being detained is uncertain, the U.S. government and under the president’s power can arrest any person in American soil without any legal reason. Obviously, it is caused by the detention indefinite of NDAA. Therefore, I think there is strongly relationship between Zeitoun’s experience and the detention indefinite.