This is just sad. It’s also what a slippery slope looks like. In addition to destroying the last bit of moral standing we had in the world, it will also lead to torture of Americans in the future. In fact, here’s a few ways how:

-Many US Soldiers (not just special forces) are required to have a pair of “sterile” BDU’s, which are worn when operating in sketchy border areas or overtly in hostile countries
-Even if US troops are wearing proper uniform, what’s to stop troops from another country (say, Syria) from simply going across the border and grabbing a couple of our guys, then saying they “were acting unlawfully”
-A US Soldier captured in civilian clothes while on vacation or off-base is transported to a very hostile country (almost like rendition) where a confession is tortured out of him, he is put on trial with secret evidence, and executed

And those are just a few of the obvious perils to the military. The fact that we will soon have suspended habeus corpus with no court review sounds an awful lot like something we fought against for 40 years. You know, that thing called communism.

Our Enemies Have Not Succeeded In Launching Another Attack On Our Soil,

Oh really! Assuming Bush has read a newspaper or listened to a newsbroadcast in the past few years, this is the biggest lie ever told, and sadly accepted without question. A quick perousal of major headlines in the past few years tells a different story.

Officials look for tie between terrorists, anthrax- October 9, 2001

They stopped looking, by the way

Syrians fight off attack on U.S. Embassy, September 12, 2006

Drive-By Shooting at a U.S. Consulate, January 22, 2002

Hmm, well, I guess if you disregard the fact that the anthrax attacks, and the fact that American embassies are technically American soil, Bush could almost be telling the truth.
However, let’s look at some other headlines I’m certain you didn’t see:

Over 1,000 lbs of explosives stolen in Virginia

An improvised explosive device (IED) detonates at a train station in Illinois

A drug raid in Texas yields over a dozen weapons and improvised explosive devices

A man attempted a suicide incendiary attack at a womens center in Iowa

A Californian discovers a pair of IEDs under his car, as well as one in his residence

These incidents all have on thing in common: they all occurred THIS MONTH! And this is just a random sampling. Because of Iraq, IEDs are becoming more frequent and more sophisticated. The theft of explosives in large quantities (hundreds of pounds) is now a bi-weekly affair, because there isn’t standardized security criteria that is effective. Hell, I can literally buy ready to use (just mix) explosives off the internet for $70. If I add a little bit of aluminum powder, the resulting mixture is cap sensitive and more powerful than TNT :(

I place the blame squarely on Bush and Co. The reason is simple, they have done as little as possible to secure the homeland. Agencies can’t talk to each other (which is huge!), federal laws on the purchase and storage of explosives and hazardous materials is crap, and the one institution that can quickly respond to a major attack (the military) is either overseas or left with no equipment. I mean, I’m not even asking them to spend a lot of money to most of this stuff. A lot of it is simply hammering out laws, and codifying agreements.
Unfortunately, these are all things that must be dictated from the top down. And until Congress spends more time on the floor and less on the fundraising circuit, even simple paperwork is too much to hope for.