Obama authorizes assasination of U.S. citizen

[DamnYankee]

only in the most extreme cases should due process be ignored. for instance, a guy sends a video denouncing his citizenship and marks his intent to go to war with the US, but all he's doing is walking the streets of pakistan......is he really a threat? no.

That's obvious and not worth sending someone out to remove him. That's why we elect a President with a vast depth of experience and common sense.

Oops.

 

[Billy the Great Khan]

Obama is worse than Bush in this regard. Jesus. That's a hard task to accomplish.

A bar set so low you'd need heavy construction equipment to get under it. And yet here we are... does GM still make earth movers?

 

[WinterBorn]

I'm sure that as long as the CIA has been in operation it has been conducting assassinations around the world...no?

As a side: If assassination against US citizens is "unconstitutional" how was it law enforcement agencies used to post rewards for suspected felons "wanted dead or alive"? When did that stop?

Good question. Hadn't thought of that. When did we stop with the "Wanted: Dead or Alive"?

 

[WinterBorn]

Yes. But in this case the target is a Citizen who has denounced his citizenship or else acted in such a way that it is a slam-dunk case for revocation. Once that process is completed and he is on foreign soil then he should be targeted. I think (although I may be wrong) that the guy deserves the right to be notified of his citizenship being revoked in advance of his assassination.

If he's on American soil then he can be shot as a spy or else arrested as an international criminal.

That is the problem. There was no mention of stripping him of his citizenship. Only of authorizing his assasination.

 

[DamnYankee]

A minor detail.

 

[WinterBorn]

A minor detail.

His citizenship is a minor detail when considering his assasination? WTF?

 

[DamnYankee]

It isn't that hard to strip his citizenship and list his as a member of a foreign army. The evidence for this is absolute.

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[WinterBorn]

.

Ok, so its not hard to do it. But it is hardly a minor detail. Unless his citizenship is stripped from him, the president is authorizing the assasination of an american citizen. That is hardly a minor detail.

 

[DamnYankee]

The President has broad war making powers...

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[apple0154]

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/04/07/assassinations

I'm all for assassinating muslim terrorist scum, but..... kind of a bad precedent to set O_O

Sometimes the old way is the best way.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=3NtCAsTcuis&feature=fvw[/ame]

 

[WinterBorn]

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Indeed he does. But those powers do not include the assasination of an american citizen.

 

[DamnYankee]

We have the right to remove a "clear and present danger".

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[Bonestorm]

How do you define a "clear and present danger?"

 

[DamnYankee]

How do you define a "clear and present danger?"

It's clearly dangerous to national security or our allies' security, and it's presently dangerous to national security or our allies' security.

 

[Bonestorm]

It's clearly dangerous to national security or our allies' security, and it's presently dangerous to national security or our allies' security.

Well, now there's a revealing definition. Clear and present danger means clearly and presently dangerous.

 

[DamnYankee]

Well, now there's a revealing definition. Clear and present danger means clearly and presently dangerous.

Exactly. It is a basic legal term, like "beyond a reasonable doubt".

You see, in the grown-up world we require decisions to be made with reason, judgment, and common sense instead of emotion, self-appeasement and stubbornness.

 

[WinterBorn]

.

He does not have the right to assasinate a US citizen. These "minor details", as you call them, are part of the process that must be followed.

Also, how do you define "clear and present danger", and who gets to make that determination?

 

[Damocles]

What about a US citizen on foreign soil? That's the issue here. I don't see what difference it makes where the US citizen is located.

I don't know why there needs to be a special order for this one specific person. It smacks of one branch of the government making, in effect, a law that specifically is to punish one person. That is a bit unconstitutional. He's simply a foreign soldier fighting against the US and should be treated as such.

 

[WinterBorn]

Exactly. It is a basic legal term, like "beyond a reasonable doubt".

You see, in the grown-up world we require decisions to be made with reason, judgment, and common sense instead of emotion, self-appeasement and stubbornness.

And we require our leaders to do things in the proper way, not as a knee-jerk reaction.

Unless his citizenship is stripped from him, the man is still a US citizen.

 

[WinterBorn]

I don't know why there needs to be a special order for this one specific person. It smacks of one branch of the government making, in effect, a law that specifically is to punish one person. That is a bit unconstitutional. He's simply a foreign soldier fighting against the US and should be treated as such.

If he were killed on a battlefield, that would be fine. But this is singling out an individual for assasination. If that individual is a US citizen, it is illegal.