In her essay Can US Citizens Be Held as Enemy Combatants, Jennifer Vanklausen explores the ethical question of our government's policy of detaining citizens Americans suspected of terrorist activities. against the United States as enemy combatants, depriving it of its constitutional rights under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments, during an undeclared war. Vanklausen draws on primary and secondary sources with strong credentials in the constitution, law, public policy, and Americans' right to liberty (Cato Inst., n.d.; Wikipedia, 2010) to support his argument. The authors have been published in various respected periodicals and have written books on these topics. Its sources cite the expert opinions of Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Antonin Scalia ("Can US Citizens Be Held as Enemy Combatants", Reinking & von der Osten, 2007, pp. 228, 231-233) , who have been charged with the ultimate responsibility of interpreting our country's constitution and applying that standard to arguments brought before the Court when the rule of law is in question. Ms. Vanklausen also uses excerpts from the Bill of Rights to clarify the protections these people do not have in this situation. She cites Thomas Jefferson and notes the decisions of the United States Supreme Court, the Second Circuit Court, and Federal Court Judge Mukasey. She also references established truths that Americans depend on as signs of their freedom, such as "The foundation of liberty has always rested on resistance to the idea of ​​arbitrary imprisonment by an executive." (Reinking & von der Osten, 2007)This essay first focuses on the reasoning that led to considering Jose Padilla and Yaser Esam Hamdi as enemy combatants to establish...... middle of paper.... ..ty and possibly violate the rights of the people who gave them their power. However, it appears that she does not fully understand all of the concepts involved in this question to project her opinion with the greatest clarity. Works Cited Cato Institute (nd). [profile]. Retrieved April 3, 2010 from http://www.cato.org/people/nat-hentoffCato Institute (nd). [profile]. Retrieved April 3, 2010 from http://www.cato.org/people/harvey-silverglateJ. A. Reinking and R. von der Osten, R. (2007). Strategies for Successful Writing: A Rhetoric, Research Guide, Reader, and Handbook (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentiss Hall. ISBN: 0-13-189195-2.Wikipedia (2010). [profile]. Retrieved April 3, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Norman_GriggWikipedia (2010). [profile]. Retrieved April 3, 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Wittes