OFF THE WIRE
By LUIS MIRANDA | THE REAL AGENDA |
The Law Office of the White House has established that it is legal to kill a
U.S. citizen overseas “if a senior government member” ensures that the target to
kill is someone who poses an “imminent threat to the country” and his capture is
not possible. The White House has made that decision clear through spokesman,
Jay Carney. “The president is very careful when conducting the war against
terrorism in accordance to Constitution and the laws, ” Carney said.
The license to kill which has given the Obama administration permission to
end the lives of Americans abroad was exposed after a 16 page document issued by
the American Justice Department was made public. The document alleges that
murdering Americans does not violate the U.S. Constitution or the rights of
citizens.
The
memorandum extends the concept of “imminent attack” and grants the U.S.
Government the authority, should it have ‘concrete evidence’ of a conspiracy to
seek, target and kill Americans which the administration considers dangerous for
American interests. Although the document describes potential suspects as
members of Al Qaeda, or people who are in charge of terrorist operations, the
truth is that other documents such as military manuals portray
Constitutionalists, Libertarians, Ron Paul supporters, gun owners and veterans
as domestic threats who can also be targeted for assassination. In fact, in
2012, the Obama administration and the U.S. Congress approved the National
Defense Authorization Act, which also allows the president to target and murder
Americans on U.S. soil.
The paper obtained by NBC news is part of a legal memorandum from 2011 that
was passed to some members of the Justice and Intelligence committees of the
Senate. This report was written months before drone attacks were launched in
Yemen, in a supposed attempt to prevent imminent terror attacks on the U.S. or
its interests in the region. One of those attacks was used to murder a U.S. born
citizen — Anwar Al Awlaki — who allegedly was a member of Al-Qaeda, but who also
dined at the Pentagon with top members of the Department of Defense. In addition
to al-Awlaki, three other Americans were killed in the attack, including the
16-year-old son of the cleric.
According to human rights organizations in the U.S., Awlaki suffered an
extrajudicial killing and therefore they presented grievances against the
government demanding to know what had been the legal basis for this action.
Awlaki was an American citizen even if he liked to preach jihad and took refuge
in Yemen, which made him subject of detention and a fair legal process that
included a trial and chance of appeal.
The Obama Administration, supported by various court rulings – rejected
repeatedly any request from lawmakers, civil rights groups and various media
organizations to publicize the memorandum and other information on extrajudicial
events. The administration also refused to recognize or acknowledged its
existence.
“These drone attacks are legal, are ethical and intelligent”, replied the
White House spokesman. Now that the memorandum has been made public, Washington
will have its hands full over a scandal that it did not expect to deal with
until NBC made the memo public.
The administration “is very careful” when deciding who and when to attack,
Carney noted.
After answering questions from the White House press, Carney was questioned
about whether the 16 year-old boy who was killed by the drone attack that killed
Awlaki, also posed a threat to the United States. “For a president who opposes
torture and who considers waterboarding as such, is it not a violation of human
rights to kill an American citizen without trial?
Tomorrow, the first hearing will be held to confirm the man chosen by
President Obama to head the CIA. John Brennan, one of the promoters of the
strategy of drone attacks and current counter terrorism adviser to Obama will
face questions regarding government policy before his confirmation is completed.
In fact, 11 senators have already asked Obama to reveal the assumptions used to
approve drone attacks when it comes to U.S. citizens.
The letter implied the toughest warning made to date against that strategy
and senators agreed to oppose to any nominations for the Pentagon and the CIA
unless the memos were made public. Therefore, Brennan’s confirmation will not be
easy.
A document issued by the advocacy group Open Society Justice Initiative
(OSJI) claimed that at least 54 countries collaborated “actively” with the
secret program of illegal detention of suspected terrorists developed by the CIA
after the attacks of September 11, 2001. Today, we have officially learned that
this list includes infamous U.S. ally Saudi Arabia.
The report is over 200 pages and states that the administration of George W.
Bush embraced the “dark side” to combat international terrorism. According to
the study, the Republican administration authorized numerous violations of human
rights without regard for U.S. or international laws.
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