HONOLULU: After objecting to provisions of a military spending bill that would have forced him to try terrorism suspects in military courts and impose strict sanctions on Iran's oil exports, the US President, Barack Obama, has signed it.
He said although he did not support all of it, changes made by Congress after negotiations with the White House had satisfied most of his concerns and had given him enough latitude to manage foreign policy in keeping with administration policy.
''The fact that I support this bill as a whole does not mean I agree with everything in it,'' Mr Obama said in a statement issued in Hawaii, where he is on holiday.
''I have signed this bill despite having serious reservations with certain provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation, and prosecution of suspected terrorists.''
The bill authorises $US662 billion in military spending this year. It is a smaller amount than the Pentagon had asked for, but it does not impose the radical cuts the military faces in coming years.
The White House had said the legislation could lead to an improper military role in overseeing detention and court proceedings, and could infringe on the President's authority in dealing with terrorism suspects. But it said Mr Obama could interpret the statute in a way that would preserve his authority.
The President, for example, said he would never authorise the indefinite military detention of US citizens, saying that ''doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a nation''.
He also said he would reject a ''rigid across-the-board requirement'' that suspects be tried in military courts rather than civilian courts.
Congress dropped a provision in the House version of the bill that would have banned using civilian courts to prosecute those suspected of having ties to al-Qaeda. It also dropped language that would have enacted new authorisation to use military force against al-Qaeda and its allies.
Mr Obama's signature is likely to settle, at least for now, the battle between the White House and Congress over executive authority in the treatment of detainees.
The White House also wrestled with Congress over requirements that the US sanction foreign financial companies that purchase Iranian oil, including through Iran's central bank.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/obama-signs-bill-on-defence-spending-20120101-1ph7x.html#ixzz1iJIrUNeY
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