SIMMS: Mr. Al- Aqar, your arrest took place before the bomb went off. One doesn’t have to be storing explosives on his person or in his home to be a terrorist threat.

Preempting Terrorism

After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City, the Pentagon and over the skies of Pennsylvania , President George W. Bush responded with the “war on terror.” On September 18, 2001, Congress quickly passed the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (“AUMF”) a brief directive that authorized the President to “use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States…”

A key element of this emerging authority was the definition of a class of "Unlawful Enemy Combatants."

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES ABOUT PREEMPTING TERRORISM

Quick General Reference on Preempting Terrorism

Wikipedia article on "Counter-terrorism"

Preempting Terrorism: Further Reading

The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals by Jane Mayer is a grand tour of U.S. efforts to shape a counterterrorism policy post-9/11.