The Obama administration’s top Pentagon lawyer on Wednesday said that courts have no business questioning executive branch decisions about whom to target for extra-judicial execution in the war on terror, even if that target is an American citizen.
“Belligerents who also happen to be U.S. citizens do not enjoy immunity where non-citizen belligerents are valid military objectives,” said Jeh C. Johnson, the Defense Department general counsel, in a speech at Yale Law School.
While the Obama administration’s policy here is not new – they’ve been conducting a drone war and assassinating U.S. citizens and non-citizens without ever providing the public evidence of those targets’ guilt – it was rare for an administration official to so publicly declare it like Johnson did.
Johnson would not speak to specific cases, but he did bring up the administration’s killing of American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen last year. He mentioned that a district judge’s decision to dismiss a case brought by Awlaki’s father to prevent his son’s due-process-free assassination was the right decision because targeting decisions are none of the court’s business.
If the administration concludes someone is a part of al-Qaeda or an “associated force,” Johnson explained, they can be executed or detained without trial or judicial review. Johnson argued the authority for this comes from the authorization for the use of military force against the perpetrators of 9/11, passed by Congress one week after the attacks.
Johnson said nothing in that statute limited the war against al-Qaeda and its allies to the so-called “hot” battlefield zone of Afghanistan. So, the Obama administration has claimed the authority to kill or capture without charge or trial any individual it alone deems a terrorist, anywhere in the world, without any judicial review.
Repubs, Dems, all the same. See not difference between GW Bush and Obama. Same old same old.
Good god almighty! Out of the devils own mouth as it were. Now if someone would please wave their magic wand over all the war worshipers across this nation so they'd wake up and realize any of us could be next with nary an explanation from "der Fuhrer".
If the court needs to stay out of the Pentagon's targeting decisions, it should logically follow that "the Obama administration’s top Pentagon lawyer" Jeh C. Johnson should keep his Pentagon "step and filch-it" opinion out of the Courts targeting decisions..!!!!!!!!…???
Since defense corporations and intelligence services are arming extremist militants in Libya and Syria, does that mean their CEOs and top people will be targeted by the administration for arming the enemy, or am I missing something?
No silly. You're thinking logically. Stop that. Everyone knows people in government and those it employs are above any law. Laws are only for the common folk (non-parasites).
Who decides who is a belligerent? You are supposed to have a fair trial. What happened to that?
You are suspicously not hailing the victory strongly enough.
Your papers, citizen!
You are being belligerent by asking that in public. Prepared to be droned!
"even if that target is an American citizen…they can be executed or detained without trial or judicial review"
The Constitution, and international law, says otherwise; ergo, Jeh Johnson and the rest of the B and O 'ministrations are 67 years late for their war crime trials. But why bother to give them trials? Just claim secret evidence exempt from judicial review and fire away. Good for the goose, good for the goosesteppers.
Now the other side of the coin, if the US President has such powers every other Government has such powers, Will the US Government accept that right or will "American Exceptionalism" ensue!
Silly me, it will be American Exceptionalism that ensues!
If history is any guide, and it usually is, look to see Obama or a future president employ al-Qaeda or an al-Qaeda affiliate in America's war on terror. And when Obama or one of our future presidents does do this, it will be perfectly legal under US law for him to be a target for an assassination.
Like the Good Book says, it's only a matter of time before you reap what you sow. Apparently Obama missed that Bible lesson, otherwise he would have known not set himself up to be victim of his own making.
AUMF must be repealed! Following that, the Military Commissions Act, the Patriot Act and the NDAA! Ahh, but it won't be. The average American cares very little about such things. We're f***ed.
This guy is the John Yoo of the Obama administration!
Once again, we're seeing how the "Civil Rights mandate" to impose democracy around the world justifies an all-powerful government and permanent war:
http://lsrebellion.blogspot.com/2011/01/martin-lu…
There are many Americans who need to be killed and I think the President knows that.
Everyday more and more Americans are being radicalized and present a threat to the freedom of those who love freedom. We must not let those who hate our freedom destroy from within or without.
There are many who little and are jealous of those who have much. These people need to be identified, assessed and if necessary, killed.
These are troubled, dangerous times, America is being sucked dry by those who Bill Murray the actor so eloquently called "fodder", those who can't take care of themselves. Those who can take care of themselves and hopefully take care of others should proceed, those who drag down the rest of us, should be eliminated.
I think Bill Murray understands that and so does Barack Obama. Let's just hope Obama wins the election, because if he loses, the right wing radicals might take over.
AMAZING! your STU PIDDY AMAZES ME! it's people like YOU who make this a dangerous country! Obama will NEVER win another election!!! RON PAUL 2012
he is being sarcastic
Yes John Yoo of the Obama administration. So let's stop blaming Obama for what this guy says or Geithner or our CIA chief…..he merely appointed them…he doesn't control what they do. That
s up to them. It's not Obama's fault.
Welcome to 1984 in America – freedom has long been destroyed.
america was and is a lawless warlike country run by war criminals so this story is no revelation since its inception since 1776 born out of the end of the gun your civil war was formented by lincoln so the only way to put a stop to it now is for the us to become bankrupt.
So, hypothetically, if one of the wilder-eyed anti-Obamites is elected to the Presidency, he can- without any oversight whatsoever- judge one Barack Hussein Obama to be an "Enemy of the State" and have him executed on the spot immediately following his assuming office, correct? I assume the same applies for all of Obama's staff? So not one of them would have any problem at all with being executed by the order of the next President, right? Since they all hailed and cheered the modern-day Enabling Act, they should have no problems being subject to it, should they?
I suspect that, just as in 'Animal Farm', all are created equal- but some are more equal than others.
Citizen John… You're touching on the obvious so that makes you a "belligerent". Keep your eyes skyward from now on if you know what's good for ya!
There is no error so monstrous that it fails to find defenders among the ablest men.
Lord Acton