This report covers the progress made in Afghan stabilization immediately following the war that brought the 2004 government to power. The report discusses decreased levels of insurgency, the lack of Al Qaeda's presence, and the increased amounts of freedom Afghan citizens are now enjoying under the new government. Moreover, the report summarizes the remaining obstacles to stability in the region.

This report provides background information regarding the cases of two U.S. citizens deemed “enemy combatants,” Yaser Esam Hamdi, who has been returned to Saudi Arabia, and Jose Padilla, who remains in military custody. A brief introduction to the law of war pertinent to the detention of different categories of individuals is offered, followed by brief analyses of the main legal precedents invoked to support the President’s actions, as well as Ex parte Milligan, which some argue supports the opposite conclusion. The report concludes that historically, even during declared wars, additional statutory authority has been seen as necessary to validate the detention of citizens not members of any armed forces, casting in some doubt the argument that the power to detain persons arrested in a context other than actual hostilities is necessarily implied by an authorization to use force.

The United States and its allies are helping Afghanistan emerging from more than 22 years of warfare, although substantial risk to Afghan stability remains. Before the U.S. military campaign against the orthodox Islamist Taliban movement began on October 7, 2001, Afghanistan had been mired in conflict since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The defeat of the Taliban has enabled the United States and its coalition partners to send forces throughout Afghanistan to search for Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters and leaders that remain at large, including Osama bin Laden. As the war against remaining Al Qaeda and Taliban elements winds down, the United States is shifting its military focus toward stabilizing the interim government, including training a new Afghan national army, and supporting the international security force (ISAF) that is helping the new government provide security.

This report gives a detailed overview of the military court-martial system, including a discussion of the three types of court-martials: summary, special, and general. It includes a chart showing procedural safeguards in federal and military courts.

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This report provides basic information on the U.S. aid program and on the general situation in Honduras. It also outlines major issues that have arisen in the aid debate.

In the past three years, the Administration has moved to substantially increase U.S. aid levels for Guatemala from $18.3 million in FY84 to a proposed $149.7 million in FY88. Budgetary limits on the overall size of the U.S. foreign aid program may cause reductions in the proposed 1988 levels, however, independent of any choices related to the Guatemalan, situation. This issue brief provides basic information on the U.S. aid program and on the general situation in Guatemala. It also outlines major issues that have arisen in the aid debate.

This report has been prepared in response to request for study of the following topics