Lindsey Graham: Obama Should Hold Bombing Suspect as 'Enemy Combatant

AP

With the manhunt for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev still underway, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Friday called for him to be held as an "enemy combatant"-- a term President Barack Obama abandoned shortly after taking office in 2009.

The "enemy combatant" designation was a major part of the Bush administration's approach to dealing with terrorism suspects; while Obama did away with the specific term, he maintained the right to detain people who provided "substantial" support to Al-Qaeda or the Taliban.

If captured, I hope Administration will at least consider holding the Boston suspect as enemy combatant for intelligence gathering purposes.

— Lindsey Graham (@GrahamBlog) April 19, 2013

If the #Boston suspect has ties to overseas terror organizations he could be treasure trove ofinformation.

— Lindsey Graham (@GrahamBlog) April 19, 2013

The last thing we may want to do is read Boston suspect Miranda Rights telling him to "remain silent."

— Lindsey Graham (@GrahamBlog) April 19, 2013

The Obama Administration needs to be contemplating these issues and should not rush into a bad decision.

— Lindsey Graham (@GrahamBlog) April 19, 2013

Graham has previously said he believes the decision to determine who an enemy combatant is should reside with the president.