Obama says he can kill any American without due process

[eastbaygordo]

This is disgusting and another blunder by Obama.

Confirmed: Obama authorizes assassination of U.S. citizen - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com

Confirmed: Obama authorizes assassination of U.S. citizen
By Glenn Greenwald

Anwar al-Awlaki(updated below - Update II - Update III - Update IV)

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. "Heâ??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.

eastbaygordo Reviewed by eastbaygordo on 04-08-2010. Obama says he can kill any American without due process This is disgusting and another blunder by Obama. Confirmed: Obama authorizes assassination of U.S. citizen - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com Confirmed: Obama authorizes assassination of U.S. citizen By Glenn Greenwald Anwar al-Awlaki(updated below - Update II - Update III - Update IV) 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 Rating: 5

[Islandborn]

I guess this would be one subject we could agree on.......where as I see the administrations desire to eliminate the cleric for the panty bomber....this seems like a slippery slope to walk down.

[eastbaygordo]

Here is the number to call and voice your disgust.
I just called.

1 202 456 1111 White House Comment Line

[eastbaygordo]

I guess this would be one subject we could agree on.......where as I see the administrations desire to eliminate the cleric for the panty bomber....this seems like a slippery slope to walk down.

Due process is everything justice is all about, without it we are lost.