| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
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This chapter serves to better define the problems with the enemy-combatant policy and its implications for creating a system of preventive detention as a tool in this war on terror.
Chapter 3 looks at the underlying rationales for preventive detention as a tool in the war on terror. Without a thorough understanding of the reasons needed for preventive detention, one cannot begin to evaluate alternatives to the enemy-combatant policy or—more fundamentally—whether a system of preventive detention is even needed as a tool in this war on terror.
Chapter 4 looks at the question of lawfulness from a constitutional and statutory perspective. If preventive detention is needed as a tool in the war on terror, this chapter explores how a regime of preventive detention could be created that complies with the Constitution and the Non-Detention Act of 1971.
Chapter 5 discusses how two other Western democracies, namely, Israel and Britain, have dealt with incapacitation and interrogation of terrorist suspects throughout decades of dealing with terrorism to see if any insights could be beneficial to the United States.
Chapter 6 discusses a methodology to evaluate alternatives to the enemy-combatant policy that are explored in chapter 7. The methodology generally looks at questions of lawfulness, the balance between liberty and security, and institutional efficiency. While the methodology is not scientific, it does emphasize some important concepts that can be used to make a meaningful comparative analysis.
Chapter 7—the crux of the book—describes and analyzes all the alternatives to the enemy-combatant policy under the methodology described in chapter 6. While it proposes a range of solutions depending on the threat level and priorities of the American public, it argues that a preventive-detention regime run by the FISC is the optimal choice for the United States.
Chapter 8, the conclusion, requests that Congress enact a comprehensive preventive-detention regime for U.S. persons. Congress has been remarkably silent for the last seven years, and it is time for a new solution. While this author believes the FISC approach is superior to the other alternatives proposed, the overriding recommendation is that Congress create a more moderate solution that is lawful, efficient, and that better balances liberty with security.