Are We Finally Going To Have A National Discussion On Killing American Citizens? I Doubt It

Over a year ago, I penned a post, IT WAS WRONG.  I haven’t altered my views any since then.  I’ll reiterate……

Many years ago, I took an oath to uphold and defend our constitution against enemies both foreign and domestic.  I’ve never recanted that oath.

In my view, I never believed any of the rights, privileges and protections, expressed and implied by the Constitution of the U.S. ever extended to people that were not or are not citizens.

But, to our citizens, all of it always applied.

I disagree with the citizens who would support terrorist groups against the US.  They should die a horrific death.  And, I believe that if danger is imminent, then the protection of the citizenry is paramount.

For those who haven’t heard or read, NBC has found a memo which supposedly contained the legal justification of killing American citizens without due process.  Here is what NBC highlighted…….(my bold)

“The condition that an operational  leader present an ‘imminent’ threat of violent attack against the United States does not require the United States to have clear evidence that a specific attack on U.S. persons and interests will take place in the immediate future,” the memo states.

The entire memo can be found here.  (pdf).

It’s even more interesting when you read what the paper explicitly states what it isn’t saying.

“The paper does not attempt to determine the minimum requirements necessary to render such an operation lawful; nor does it assess what might be required to render a lethal operation against a US citizen lawful in other circumstances, including an operation against enemy forces on a traditional battlefield or an operation against a US citizen who is not a senior operational leader of such forces.”

So, what is the implicit nature of these statements?  We don’t require evidence of a specific attack or imminence of an attack.  Neither does the citizen necessarily have to be a leader of a group.  And, it seems not to require that the citizen even be part of a group.  Guess what else it doesn’t discuss…….. whether or not US this applies to US soil.

None of this is acceptable.  While I admit to not voting for Obama, one of my biggest hopes for his presidency was to rescind or limit the powers of the executive branch in this regard.  Due process is a guarantee of the constitution.

It is pretty straight forward.  If the danger is imminent, then other citizens take precedence.  If not, then all of the rights and guarantees of the US constitution apply.  No one has the authority to supersede this.  Congress doesn’t, Bush didn’t, and Obama doesn’t.

Will anything come of the bluster now coming from some senators?  Not a chance.  They’ve sat quietly, each time renewing the supposed authority for the president.  And, they’ll do it again unless the people start making noise about this.  A lot of noise.

I understand the high emotive reactions some may have.  Disagreements and discussions are always welcome.  Keep any comments civil.

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