Paul Slams Obama Over Drone Strikes

Even Nazis Got Trials, Congressman Notes

Speaking Thursday in the city of Council Bluffs, Iowa, Rep. Ron Paul (R – TX) slammed President Obama over his use of unmanned drones to conduct assassinations of suspects without due process, noting that even Nazis in the wake of World War 2 got trials.

“What did we do with the Nazis – war criminals – after World War II? They got trials.” Paul told the crowd during a campaign speech. Of Obama the Congressman said “he changed the rules. He says now it is proper for the president to decide to assassinate an American citizen without a trial, without charges, because he thanks they’re that dangerous.”

The American citizen in question was Anwar al-Awlaki, a New Mexico-born cleric who the administration railed against for online sermons critical of US foreign policy in the region. Obama ordered Awlaki as well as his son, 16-year-old Abdel-Rahman Awlaki, assassinated in late September.

The Justice Department is said to have created a secret legal defense for exactly how President Obama can assassinate people, but they have insisted the defense is too secret to be released to the public.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.