Executive Order 13823: Terrorists

What the Executive Order says

Executive Order (EO) 13823 is entitled "Protecting America Through Lawful Detention of Terrorists." and has 4 sections.  It was issued in January 2018.

Section 1

This section starts awkwardly citing "long-standing law of war principles" which I guess is trying to reference the Geneva Convention. This section is subtitled "Findings" and tries to present a justification as to why the US can detain persons considered enemies of the US at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station.

Section 2

This section revokes Section 3 of EO 13492.  That EO and that specific section called for the closure of the detention facilities at Guantanamo by January of 2010.  Clearly, that never happened.  Section 2(c) allows for transport of additional detainees to Guantanamo.  Section 2(d) has several layers of irony in asking for a report from the intelligence agency to recommend policies on prisoners of war and the use of the Guantanamo Bay Detention facility.  First, because the EO's seem to always look for a report to be written, second because there are news stories and books published detailing how the current President does not listen to the Intelligence Services anyway.  The last subsection references EO 13567 from March of 2011.  That EO set up a review process for period reviews of detainee files to expedite a final disposition so that detainees could be all removed from Guantanamo.  Subsection 2(e) of EO 13823 stipulates that any new detainees would be subject to the same periodic reviews.

Section 3

This section adds some language that restricts the applicability to those persons captured during an armed conflict, and in the case they are American citizens, that this does not deprive the detainees of their rights as citizens.

Section 4

This section includes language to limit the applicability such that is does not conflict with applicable laws or create any legal liabilities against the US Government.

My commentary

The most significant item in this EO is 2(a) wherein section 3 of EO 13492 is revoked.  That section had mandated that the authorities work to remove all the prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and close the detention facility.  As such, the detention facility is to be used in an ongoing fashion to detain existing and new detainees as necessary.  The EO is fairly symbolic as it stakes out the administrations attitude towards prisoners of war and other individuals considered "enemies of the US" (except, of course, journalists).
The funny thing about life to me is that when you go looking for something, more often than not, you seem to find it.  Thus the way to find good things in life is to go looking for those good things.  If the US spends a lot of resources looking for enemies, she shall certainly find them.  And here is the stark contrast between the erstwhile and present administrations: one looked for friends, the other for enemies.  Hence the 180 degree shift in policy from emptying the detention facility at Guantanamo to using it for more found enemies.