What we would do, if we were at war

If the United States is in a state of war with al Qaeda, as Obama says it is, what policy is the necessary consequence of such a war?

In my entry posted this morning about Obama’s statement on countertorrorism, I wrote:

Since al Qaeda is not a single, discrete organization but rather a loose network sharing a common Islamic ideology, common Islamic identity, and common Islamic aim, namely a global caliphate under sharia law, if the U.S. were at war with al Qaeda, then any person who was associated with that network or who supported that aim would be regarded as an enemy, or at least (assuming he was not a U.S. citizen) as an enemy alien. Enemies and enemy aliens would not be allowed to enter the United States, they would not be allowed to travel or reside freely in the United States. They would be excluded, confined, or deported.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at January 08, 2010 02:14 PM | Send