Confirmed: Obama authorizes assassination of U.S. citizen

[TinDragon]

From what I could glean from the article, Obama has basically given the go-ahead to kill this guy no matter where he is, with no real proof of whether he's even guilty or not.

Original Article: http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/gl...assassinations

In late January, I wrote about the Obama administration's "presidential assassination program," whereby American citizens are targeted for killings far away from any battlefield, based exclusively on unchecked accusations by the Executive Branch that they're involved in Terrorism. At the time, The Washington Post's Dana Priest had noted deep in a long article that Obama had continued Bush's policy (which Bush never actually implemented) of having the Joint Chiefs of Staff compile "hit lists" of Americans, and Priest suggested that the American-born Islamic cleric Anwar al-Awlaki was on that list. The following week, Obama's Director of National Intelligence, Adm. Dennis Blair, acknowledged in Congressional testimony that the administration reserves the "right" to carry out such assassinations.

Today, both The New York Times and The Washington Post confirm that the Obama White House has now expressly authorized the CIA to kill al-Alwaki no matter where he is found, no matter his distance from a battlefield. I wrote at length about the extreme dangers and lawlessness of allowing the Executive Branch the power to murder U.S. citizens far away from a battlefield (i.e., while they're sleeping, at home, with their children, etc.) and with no due process of any kind. I won't repeat those arguments -- they're here and here -- but I do want to highlight how unbelievably Orwellian and tyrannical this is in light of these new articles today.

Just consider how the NYT reports on Obama's assassination order and how it is justified:

The Obama administration has taken the extraordinary step of authorizing the targeted killing of an American citizen, the radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is believed to have shifted from encouraging attacks on the United States to directly participating in them, intelligence and counterterrorism officials said Tuesday. . . .

American counterterrorism officials say Mr. Awlaki is an operative of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the affiliate of the terror network in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. They say they believe that he has become a recruiter for the terrorist network, feeding prospects into plots aimed at the United States and at Americans abroad, the officials said.

It is extremely rare, if not unprecedented, for an American to be approved for targeted killing, officials said. A former senior legal official in the administration of George W. Bush said he did not know of any American who was approved for targeted killing under the former president. . . .

"The danger Awlaki poses to this country is no longer confined to words," said an American official, who like other current and former officials interviewed for this article spoke of the classified counterterrorism measures on the condition of anonymity. "He’s gotten involved in plots."

No due process is accorded. No charges or trials are necessary. No evidence is offered, nor any opportunity for him to deny these accusations (which he has done vehemently through his family). None of that.

Instead, in Barack Obama's America, the way guilt is determined for American citizens -- and a death penalty imposed -- is that the President, like the King he thinks he is, secretly decrees someone's guilt as a Terrorist. He then dispatches his aides to run to America's newspapers -- cowardly hiding behind the shield of anonymity which they're granted -- to proclaim that the Guilty One shall be killed on sight because the Leader has decreed him to be a Terrorist. It is simply asserted that Awlaki has converted from a cleric who expresses anti-American views and advocates attacks on American military targets (advocacy which happens to be Constitutionally protected) to Actual Terrorist "involved in plots." These newspapers then print this Executive Verdict with no questioning, no opposition, no investigation, no refutation as to its truth. And the punishment is thus decreed: this American citizen will now be murdered by the CIA because Barack Obama has ordered that it be done. What kind of person could possibly justify this or think that this is a legitimate government power?

Just to get a sense for how extreme this behavior is, consider -- as the NYT reported -- that not even George Bush targeted American citizens for this type of extra-judicial killing (though a 2002 drone attack in Yemen did result in the death of an American citizen). Even more strikingly, Antonin Scalia, in the 2004 case of Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, wrote an Opinion (joined by Justice Stevens) arguing that it was unconstitutional for the U.S. Government merely to imprison (let alone kill) American citizens as "enemy combatants"; instead, they argued, the Constitution required that Americans be charged with crimes (such as treason) and be given a trial before being punished. The full Hamdi Court held that at least some due process was required before Americans could be imprisoned as "enemy combatants." Yet now, Barack Obama is claiming the right not merely to imprison, but to assassinate far from any battlefield, American citizens with no due process of any kind. Even GOP Congressman Pete Hoekstra, when questioning Adm. Blair, recognized the severe dangers raised by this asserted power.

And what about all the progressives who screamed for years about the Bush administration's tyrannical treatment of Jose Padilla? Bush merely imprisoned Padilla for years without a trial. If that's a vicious, tyrannical assault on the Constitution -- and it was -- what should they be saying about the Nobel Peace Prize winner's assassination of American citizens without any due process?

All of this underscores the principal point made in this excellent new article by Eli Lake, who compellingly and comprehensively documents what readers here well know: that while Obama's "speeches and some of his administration’s policy rollouts have emphasized a break from the Bush era," the reality is that the administration has retained and, in some cases, built upon the core Bush/Cheney approach to civil liberties and Terrorism. As Al Gore asked in his superb 2006 speech protesting Bush's "War on the Constitution":

Can it be true that any president really has such powers under our Constitution?

If the answer is yes, then under the theory by which these acts are committed, are there any acts that can on their face be prohibited?

If the president has the inherent authority to eavesdrop on American citizens without a warrant, imprison American citizens on his own declaration, kidnap and torture, then what can't he do?

Notice the power that was missing from Gore's indictment of Bush radicalism: the power to kill American citizens. Add that to the litany -- as Obama has now done -- and consider how much more compelling Gore's accusatory questions become.

[Socal2361]

If it was someone who wasn't an avid supporter of extremism I might would care. Since he is an extremists sympathizer and an active member in terrorists organizations, I could care less. I say kill'em twice.

[usmc3521]

if you are on their "hit List" you are not an innocent bystander. You obviously did something to **** off uncle sam. We need more of this. You "F" up and we hunt you down and kill you where you stand. Just like the frickin hodgie who shot up fort hood, screw "due process" the order to kill should have been given immediatly. Any one regardless of race this new law should apply to. Once people see that if they go around plotting **** and killing people, that they are going to have a hit on them I bet the crime rate goes waaaaay down.

Im not an Osamabama fan in anyway but I totally agree with this

[echo3oscar1833]

I swear I read this, and looked over my shoulder a few times while reading it

[AAV Crewchief]

If it was someone who wasn't an avid supporter of extremism I might would care. Since he is an extremists sympathizer and an active member in terrorists organizations, I could care less. I say kill'em twice.

Effin A right....smokem

[gwamo1]

I agree with everyone.

[yanacek]

Although I agree with eliminating this animal through any means, I'm a bit shocked that Obama would support, let alone authorize such actions. Wasn't Obama the one who claimed that America was better than all the horrible things he accused Bush of?

[Hanzo]

Although I agree with eliminating this animal through any means, I'm a bit shocked that Obama would support, let alone authorize such actions. Wasn't Obama the one who claimed that America was better than all the horrible things he accused Bush of?

Yes, but that was during his campaign. He'd have told you that sky was purple if it got your vote. Point the finger, sling mud, spread blame, then do all of those things yourself because the fact of the matter is, its what needs to be done.

[kenrobg30]

Everybody's getting excited about crap, written by a psycopathic , hysterical spin doctor, who I think, must have breathed too much of that Hippy era, wacky tobaccy. If the guy is killing our people, and everyone knows he is, and there is proof?? A buck-and-a-half bullet is much more economical than a twenty million dollar trial. (At the taxpayers expense) S/F!! Ken

[ggyoung]

Can I squeeze the trigger?

[kabar1]

where is gunny hathcock when we need him guarding the gates of heaven.scout snipers adjust your scopes.give them hell.

[firedog974]

U.S. Constitution : Article III, Section 3:

1. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.



2. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted.



Bill of Rights:


5. No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.

6. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.




I (state your name) do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

If you are not a MARINE, you are in the wrong area.....

[ecfree]

M1A,you're out of bounds without a profile..........
Could be brig time for you..........

[Sgt Leprechaun]

Taken care of. No extraction....'yet'..but the helos are circling...

[kenrobg30]

Can I squeeze the trigger?

Thomas Jefferson also said, "The man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them: inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer the truth than he whose mind is filled with errors and falsehoods." Feb. 11, 1807. In my opinion, that pretty well describes most internet websites. Just a thought. S/F!! Ken