Only one senior al Qaeda leader left. And what that means. [View all]

[Robb]

CNN's Peter Bergen chimed in this morning on the death of Abu Yahya al-Libi. His usual apologia for "W" aside, he reported this:

The news that Abu Yahya al-Libi, the No.2 leader of al Qaeda, is now confirmed to have been killed in a CIA drone strike in Pakistan's tribal region along the border with Afghanistan further underlines that the terrorist group that launched the 9/11 attacks is now more or less out of business.

Under President Barack Obama, CIA drone strikes have killed 15 of the most important players in al Qaeda, according to a count maintained by the New America Foundation (a nonpartisan think tank where I am a director) ... As a result, according to senior U.S. counterterrorism officials, there now remains only one leader of any consequence in al Qaeda and that is Ayman al-Zawahiri...

Bergen goes on with some other nonsense, and misses the real importance of what he's gotten his Pentagon sources to confirm: senior US counterterrorism officials are now, today, and enthusiastically, playing up the importance of Abu Yahya al-Libi and sounding the death knell for al Qaeda.

Why is this a big f-ing deal?

Because it will end "indefinite detentions." Permanently.

As I've said here before, AUMF is the cornerstone of every successful legal argument surrounding indefinite detentions. The current administration is quite aware that AUMF is, for all purposes, the war against al Qaeda; Obama is actually focusing on destroying al Qaeda, which is not just foreign policy, but also domestic.

Here's why: as soon as it becomes slightly apparent that al Qaeda does not pose a meaningful, demonstrable threat, the powers granted by AUMF will be in trouble -- and the attorneys for the first post-Hamdi case of a US citizen being detained and denied a day in court will successfully poke a thousand holes in AUMF for precisely this reason.

This is why Obama fought -- with a veto threat -- for what seemed inexplicable terms in this year's defense bill, negotiating what even his strongest supporters could at best spin as a punt: setting language that would preclude Congress from passing a law that would've set up a Hamdi challenge prematurely, e.g. leaving things at best status quo.

By "prematurely," I mean this: Obama knows, as I've also said here before, he has a very, very good chance of being reelected. This means he also has a very, very good chance at getting to pick a couple of USSC seats -- with any luck, he'll get to pick those seats up before Hamdi gets a court challenge.

Because the right court could end the AUMF without the approval of Congress -- and do it while giving Congress a chance to grumble and save face about it all. No AUMF, no powers -- for Obama, or any future President.

And we'll be out of this mess.