so... Bush and Obama have given direction to kill US citizens abroad - does this bug anyone besides me? Not terrorists, per say, just people we are furious at.
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There is a story in the Washington Post - and at the end they discuss that Bush after 9/11 gave approval to kill US Citizens if they were organizing or aiding terrorists. The latest person that we added to the kill list is the New Mexico born Iman who corresponded with the Muslim Terrorist that killed people at Fort Hood. But there is no proof he either planned or aided the action - if fact we don't even accuse him of that. Sure he is a dick and asshole, but are we the country now that kills people for thoughts and words (but allows corporations free speech)?
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Glen Greenwald discusses this here along with other citizens we have approved to be killed overseas that aren't terrorist (including drug dealers and people we think might know the Taliban).
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Is it just me or isn't this not so "American Values".... Also our intellignece hasn't shown us any proof. And the last time they showed us proof of weapons of mass destruction they were, you know, WRONG!
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Finally what the fuck are we doing killing people in Yemen for the last few years? I mean we have been there arguable for years before the airplane attempt ever happened. Aren't we suppose to declare war or something before we attack countries willy nilly.
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(from the Washington Post)
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After the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush gave the CIA, and later the military, authority to kill U.S. citizens abroad if strong evidence existed that an American was involved in organizing or carrying out terrorist actions against the United States or U.S. interests, military and intelligence officials said. The evidence has to meet a certain, defined threshold. The person, for instance, has to pose "a continuing and imminent threat to U.S. persons and interests," said one former intelligence official.
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The Obama administration has adopted the same stance. If a U.S. citizen joins al-Qaeda, "it doesn't really change anything from the standpoint of whether we can target them," a senior administration official said. "They are then part of the enemy."
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Both the CIA and the JSOC maintain lists of individuals, called "High Value Targets" and "High Value Individuals," whom they seek to kill or capture. The JSOC list includes three Americans, including Aulaqi, whose name was added late last year. As of several months ago, the CIA list included three U.S. citizens, and an intelligence official said that Aulaqi's name has now been added.
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Intelligence officials say the New Mexico-born imam also has been linked to the Army psychiatrist who is accused of killing 12 soldiers and a civilian at Fort Hood, Tex., although his communications with Maj. Nidal M. Hasan were largely academic in nature. Authorities say that Aulaqi is the most important native, English-speaking al-Qaeda figure and that he was in contact with the Nigerian accused of attempting to bomb a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day.