I don’t get the outrage about this.
If terrorists are legitimate targets, then why should a terrorist get a Don’t Drone Me Bro Card simply because he has American citizenship?
Some of the German infiltrators at the Battle of the Bulge who dressed in American uniforms were US citizens. They were still shot out of hand as in violation of the laws of war. As they should have been.
AFAIK there is at present no attempt to apply this principle inside the US. But if terrorists launch an all-out attack such as Benghazi or Beslan, does anyone seriously contend we shouldn’t respond with all necessary military force, even if those launching the attacks are US citizens?
I don’t trust our present administration any more than anybody else, but I think the principles outlined here, as such, are valid
"the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be “senior operational leaders” of al-Qaida or “an associated force” -- even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the US"
The article implies it's talking about within the US, but according to the first sentence in the white paper, this refers to 'in a foreign country outside the area of active hostilities'.
At any rate, it's just vague enough to make one wonder, considering all the shenanigans taking place.
"No intelligence" -- indeed.
Do you really want the government of the United States to make it okay to kill American citizens it deems as terrorists, especially without a Declaration of War (which we did have in WW2)? Do you support the 2nd Amendment? Some Democrats have called the NRA a terrorist organization. Do you go to Church? Some on the left call Christians right wing terrorists.
Do you see the abuse waiting to happen?
I have no love for any American who joins Al-Qaeda. I hope they meet their Maker soon courtesy of the U.S. military. But this policy makes the President the judge, jury, and executioner of American citizens and we don't operate that way.
Do you really want the government of the United States to make it okay to kill American citizens it deems as terrorists, especially without a Declaration of War (which we did have in WW2)? Do you support the 2nd Amendment? Some Democrats have called the NRA a terrorist organization. Do you go to Church? Some on the left call Christians right wing terrorists.
Do you see the abuse waiting to happen?
I have no love for any American who joins Al-Qaeda. I hope they meet their Maker soon courtesy of the U.S. military. But this policy makes the President the judge, jury, and executioner of American citizens and we don't operate that way.
Who gets to determine what a "legitimate" target is? How do we know whether the administrations isn't just trumping up charges against innocent people in order to spy on or summarily execute political opponents? With no checks on executive branch to oversee its actions, the potential for abuse is very high. (Unless you think that the government always does the right thing and would never abuse its power.)
To allow the executive branch the power to do whatever it wants without ANY checks is to essentially make the executive a king. If the government can accuse an innocent person of a crime and take away a person's rights and due process based upon the executive branch's say so alone, then the government can do that to everyone and the protections promised in the Constitution are meaningless.
Very simple ... If he/she is an American they have a right to a trial by law!... If your Mom, Dad, Brother or Sister are deemed terrorists thus legitimate targets should we kill them without a trial?
“I don’t trust our present administration any more than anybody else, but I think the principles outlined here, as such, are valid”
I’m with you. If you’ve got a blue passport and want to hang around with some really bad terrorists in Yemen, fine, but don’t expect that passport to protect you from a drone with your name on it. To me, the Americans we’re killing are taking up arms against us...or getting close enough to that point.
In other words, if you want to be left alone, don’t be serving tea to Osama (or whoever these days). IT’S THEIR CHOICE. We are not droning them in Kentucky, we’re droning them in some really, really, nasty places and they have NO BUSINESS being there, if they truly consider themselves to be Americans.
The outrage is based upon the very real possibility that this administration could easily decide to designate conservative gun owners as terrorists who pose an imminent threat to national security.