According to administration officials, the US Justice Department determined that natural-born US citizen Anwar Awlaki could be assassinated without being charged with a crime and without any trial as part of a secret memorandum. Officials added that there was “no dissent” among top administration lawyers, who insisted that Obama was free to order the killing of citizens as part of the nation’s “right of self defense.”
Click here to read more on extralegal assassination at the Washington Post
Just as the Bush Administration lawyers determined that it was all legal and peachy-keen to torture detainees snatched off the streets of America or Europe. Don't need no due process and sure don't need no Bill of Rights – then and now. The American people didn't object (much) when Bush did it – I expect to hear even less objection this time. Next time there won't even be a question raised. That's how the American people enable those who want to subdue and chain down the American people.
the Assasination without trial of US Citizens is NOT a violation of the bill of rights, its actually worse than that its a violation of the Constitution PROPER, Where was the trial in an Article III court (that is a civilian court by the way) and where were thier accusers, because they sure as hell DIDNT appear in a court charged with Treason and they didnt addmit in that OPEN court to treason.
The DOJ again failed Constitutional law 101, the President nor anybody else cannot lawfully summararilly order the Execution of an American Citizen, sadly Americans are to silly to even look a their own constitution to realise this!
Terrorism is to resist the brutal imperialism of an Empire.
So, just to state the above self-evident fact, this makes you a terrorist and subject to death by assassination.
And so, this is all citizen Awlaki was guilty of, teaching that you do have the right of self defense against imperialism most brutal, by an empire suffering the death process and most anxiety driven.
Of course there was no dissent among those reviewing the policy- dissent places you squarely in the camp of The Enemy ™ and thus you make it a lot easier for you to be placed on the assassination list.
If everything is above the table and legally sound, why does the memorandum need to be secret? Why is the American public denied knowing what the government is doing? Could it be the government is not acting in the best interest of American citizens and doesn't want them knowing the real story behind the headlines?
This will turn out badly, for all of us. I may be on the assassination list for my very frequent hyper-critical commentaries about the government right here on these pages. I have no way of knowing if I've met the criteria for being placed on the list; I have no way of knowing if there is any evidence, real or imagined, against me; I have no way of refuting any charges made about me; and I certainly have no due process of law available to me to prevent my being railroaded by the state. Paranoia? I don't think so, since every one of these conditions applied to Awlaki as well.
Think about it: you could be next and you'll never know until it's too late. Is this really the America we want? I don't think so, and if it is indeed what the majority of Americans want now, I need to be looking for a new nation to call home. My family has fought and bled and died for the United States since 1720- before it was even a country- and I am embarrassed that this version of America is what my ancestors efforts have produced.
John, you know Jason is on the "list" along with the other AW dot COM staff. And any of us that have donated to AW dot COM with a credit card, who knows? You are not paranoid if it's true.
Modern American leaders have had it within their power to make things different, but they have, as a whole (disregarding "party") chosen war and interventionism over peaceful relationships. They have completely destroyed America's credibility as any kind of peace broker for other nations' conflicts. Fear, fear, fear is what our country is generating now. Bush the Bad Sheriff followed by Obama the Ugly Bomber.
“killing of citizens… nation’s “right of self defense.”
Problem is, we are an Empire, by our brutal imperialism a dictator and for an absolute — we have no right of self-defense.
And as activists this is our biggest obstacle, convincing the general public that only those in the right have the right of self-defense. For mainstream media has so severely restricted the issue of terrorism that a complete blackout is there on the possibility that we may be on the wrong side of history.
It's official. The rule of law is no more in the US. We might as well be in Syria or Libya. The next step is to assassinate US citizens on US soil for criticizing US policy. And no one will complain.
Yoo and that other korean creep must be thrilled that their "judicial philosophy" is alive and well in the Obama administration.
Just another demonstration that the current Resident of the WH will do ANYTHING to pander to the mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging side of the voting calculus in order to get re-elected.
“Terrorism is to resist empire,” for empire building is brutal imperialism and the root cause of all wars. So, rejoice gentlemen — for we are all terrorists.
And if the purpose of this world is to prove the harm in it, namely to establish a full and perfect understanding of darkness, then drone collateral murder is real progress that we can believe in, a quantum leap toward a most worthwhile goal. So logic inquires, is this not a most optimistic perspective, one sure to cheer you up the more terrorizing the world becomes?