Bush considered sending troops into New York

Melbourne, July 25 (ANI): To arrest a group of men suspected of plotting with al Qaeda, the Bush Administration considered sending troops into New York.

Some of President George Bush's advisers, notably Vice President Dick Cheney, contended that a sitting president had the power to use the military on US soil to sweep up the men, known as the Lackawanna Six, and brand them as enemy combatants, the New York Times reported.

Bush eventually decided against the proposal, which was floated in 2002 without consulting senior military officials.

US laws and the Constitution, notably the 4th Amendment that bans unreasonable search or seizure without probable cause, restrict military action for domestic raids.

The report said Bush administration officials debated the move using a broad interpretation of presidential authority roughly a month after the September 11 attacks on the United States, arguing that domestic use of military force against al Qaeda would be legal because it served a national security, rather than a law enforcement purpose.

Proponents of the plan, advanced by Cheney and his legal adviser, David Addington, used a memo written by Justice Department lawyers John Yoo and Robert Delahunty that asserted it would be legal.

Among those opposing the proposal were the national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, FBI director Robert Mueller and Michael Chertoff, the head of the Justice Department's criminal division.

Bush finally ordered the FBI to make the arrests. The men from the Buffalo suburb of Lackawanna all pleaded guilty to terrorism related charges, The Australian reported. (ANI)