The US drone that assassinated American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen was launched from one of the Obama administration’s newly constructed bases on the Arabian Peninsula.
It was only a few weeks ago that reports were first released about the Obama administration’s new construction of “a constellation of secret drone bases,” as they were described by the Washington Post, installed with the specific intention to broaden the drone war in the Arabian Peninsula and northeast Africa, especially in Yemen and Somalia.
The attack killed two American citizens, Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan, and set a precedent for presidential orders to assassinate Americans without being officially charged or provided lawful due process. But another precedent was set: the attack was the first indication that the newly constructed drone bases are operational.
The assassinations were extralegal on civil rights grounds, but the operational use of the new drone bases sets an additional ominous legal precedent for the use of lethal force. The war zone, in which anyone determined to be an enemy can be killed without question at the order of the President, has officially expanded to Yemen and Somalia in a more literal way than ever before.
And if the White House should change hands in January of 2013, does anyone really believe that this extralegal activity, clearly unconstitutional, will cease? What was once a one-off has now become de rigueur.
Not unless Ron Paul wins. This is why I don't understand why so many anti-war people from the left still refuse to support him over Obama. They know that what they are getting is murder and war yet they support him and not Dr. Paul. Why? Because they think Paul is a biggot and would take away their "right" to terminate their own unborn children.
They dont' care that Ron Paul is not a biggot (someone said it so it must be true). They don't care that he doesn't believe that the Constitution gives the Federal government the authority to decide who can get an abortion. (they think it's a sneaky tool he is using to take away their "rights")
Yes many of our anti-war friends on the left prefer war over the thought that this so called "biggoted contitutionalist" might give us a chance for peace.
I commend you for your faith in Dr. Paul, misguided as I believe it is. The Presidency, despite what Dead Eye Dick Cheney thinks, is not the power center many believe it to be. Obama, or Paul for that matter is not nor would not be the final arbiter of how this country pursues its foreign policy or wars. The Archons who pull the strings of and own the politicians will continue to do what they want and when the pols think that another tack might be better for the country they lose their next election, or worse.
Regarding Dr. Paul, he will never be allowed to go any farther than where he currently is. Like Dennis, he's a distraction, useful for making the others look more reasonable. For the record, I believe that Dr. Paul has a better grasp on what this country needs to get back to being "Exceptional" but is delusional if he believes that he (as President) would be able to get Congress to go in the direction he wants. Congress, as well as being dysfunctional, are truly rogue – answering only to those who provide the money. I admire Dr. Paul and many of his beliefs but I am also a realist. If he were to actually win the Republican nomination and the general, he would be more of an do-nothing President than the current occupant due entirely to a Congress that believes they have the real power.
In it's current form, our political system has failed. Get the money out and we might have a chance at having real representative governing. But I'm not holding my breath.
I would never say anything bad about Dr Paul because he's a big part of the reason we have Scott and Justin and company. But that's why.
We are heading to the abyss.
I we want to stop Obama's madness, we need to prosecute the criminal whose crimes Obama is capitalizing on; that would be Bush.
The crimes are on the books and neither party, republican or democrat, can consider prosecuting Bush a political Lynching. The crimes are murder, treason, dereliction of duty in time of war, and aiding and abetting a criminal.
The timeline of the crimes and the crimes themselves are spelled out in "Enough is Enough" found at http://www.mydemocracy.net/war_crimes/enough_kill…
And for those who have a facebook account, you may want to visit http://www.facebook.com/Prosecute.Bush
Wherever you go, please sign the petition and tell as many friends as you ca to do so.
In solidarity,
Maher Osseiran
CIA — GIVING WAR A DIRTY NAME
Wars use to have a code of honor, major battles with both sides allowed to display their manly might by heroic deeds of valor and high honor, both sides being careful not to win by deceit. Comes now slimy Obama and his scumbag CIA to turn war into collateral murder, predator drone assassination and a stench in the nostrils of any warrior with integrity.
Question is, before Bush gave drone warfare to the CIA, did he first order the military brass to do it — and they refused? For if so, we could be on the verge of a military coup d’état.
Brad_Smith2 says, “I don’t understand why so many anti-war people… refuse to support… Ron Paul.”
Good being a giving action that produces a grateful response, evil being forced charity that turns the poor into ingrates, what Ron hopes to accomplish is a heaven on earth with everyone an angel giving charity willingly, with the poor becoming grateful most gracefully.
All things considered, Ron should be given his day of glory under the sun, if for no there reason than to show how heartless the American public really is.
Now Obama has justification for expanding the empire.