The American Civil Liberties Union failed in late-2010 to push a lawsuit challenging the Obama Administration’s claimed power to assassinate American citizens without charging them with any crimes, but is hoping for a consolation prize today, filing another suit challenging the killings after the fact.
“It’s an effort to get accountability,” noted ACLU deputy director Jameel Jaffer, saying that even though the Justice Department successfully argued that the killings couldn’t be challenged beforehand, they could now press the administration to “explain to a court why it did what it did.”
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the family members of three American citizens assassinated in the program, including US-born Sunni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, 16-year-old Abdulrahim Awlaki, and alleged al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) member Samir Khan. The defendants include Leon Panetta, David Petraeus, and other top officials.
So far officials have refused to comment on the new lawsuit, but will likely claim that information related to the program is classified, and cannot be challenged in open court. Similar claims about the “secret” nature of the drone program have been pushed in the past, despite the administration’s willingness to openly brag about the assassinations that have resulted from them.
Good! This is supposed to be a nation of laws, not someone's capricious whim.
I know you're gonna post it so that I alone can see it, but what the hell.
"The defendants include Leon Panetta, David Petraeus, and other top officials."
Who signed the "Kill List"?
This is something that should have been done years ago – the Bushies did the same thing (and probably many others before them) but were not stupid enough to brag about it ……BUT…..I'm betting this is something the Archons do not want to happen. So, expect to see the unofficial Official Secrets Act to be used to bring this action to an end. There might be Judges out there who will agree with the unConstitutional nature of these extrajudicial killings….but…I'm betting this case is not going to land in the hands of one of these judges.
Once again, this case, these types of cases, are going to highlight the futility of trying to bring the Beast to justice. Just sayin'…
If memories serve…the Belgian Court has indicted G.W. Bush, Condoleeza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Leon Panetta, Dick Cheney etc. for war crimes committed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Were those indicted to travel internationally they could be subject to arrest and remandiong to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Needless to say, the prosecution of these individuals would face legal challenges of perhaps insurmountable proportions, not to mention those of soveriegnty. Though the US along with Israel, Russia and North Korea have not ratified membership in the ICC. the Court does have some muscle…stay tuned.
To qualify for extermination by the Obama Administration one need only be male of age approaching adulthood or a shephard tending sheep but carrying a staff that appears as a weapon to a high-flying indiscriminate drone. And yes, of course, attendance at a wedding party is tantamount to terrorism as well and therefore subject to death from above. And we wonder why we are hated around the world.
What in the world have we become?
not much chance of success but worth the effort, keep it up
I remember listening to a lecture by Anwar al-Awlaki where he said,
"The long arm of American injustice will get you where ever you are."
Unfortunately the kangaroo courts cannot allow truth to be known.
The judges have had there own hand in disabling the Constitution. The design of the Constitution was such that there were three separate and co-equal branches that were supposed to provide checks and balances against each other. When the courts say that no one can go to court to challenge anything that that Administration claims is 'classified' or 'national security', then they are disabling one of the key protections of liberty that was designed into the Constitution.
What we see today is an Executive Branch claiming powers that the Framers never dreamed of in their idea of a limited government, and Congressional and Judicial branches that are refusing to perform their roles of congressional oversight or judicial review and challenge of the claims to these powers.
The sad thing is, even if this does come to any sort of trial, Awlaki and the others will be just as dead, with no one offering any explanation or justification, and with those responsible free from any responsibility.
These days, "reasons of national security" is nothing more than thinly-disguised code for "covering our butts".