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So wrong

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18 comments

So wrong

POSTED: Monday, February 4, 2013, 9:44 PM

To paraphrase ESPN, what if I told you...that in the future, a U.S. president would have the power to send flying killer robots around the world, striking dead individualls without judicial process and sometimes with little or no evidence of their alleged crimes? Science fiction? No, it's Barack Obama and his team:

A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that 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 U.S.

The 16-page memo, a copy of which was obtained by NBC News, provides new details about the legal reasoning behind one of the Obama administration’s most secretive and controversial polices: its dramatically increased use of drone strikes against al-Qaida suspects, including those aimed at American citizens, such as the September 2011 strike in Yemen that killed alleged al-Qaida operatives Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan. Both were U.S. citizens who had never been indicted by the U.S. government nor charged with any crimes.

Look, I have just as little sympathy for al-Qaeda as the next guy, but in addition to the lack of judicial process or standards, let's not forget that these strikes kill more civilians than they do terrorists -- and that the government has a dodgy system to try and cover that up. When are we going to stop sliding down this slippery slope and start the long hard climb back to what we used to call the American way of justice?

Will Bunch @ 9:44 PM Permalink | 18 comments

18 comments

Comments (18)

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 12:33 PM, 02/05/2013

"It's only collateral damage if it's your guy pulling the trigger, otherwise it's a war crime" . . . . . The only Congressional oversight of Obama's drone program has been pursued by libs like Senator Feinstein. The GOP doesn't seem interested in this issue at all. Is it from fear of appearing soft on terror, especially in comparison to Obama?

— montani semper liberi

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:01 PM, 02/05/2013

So holding Americans in Gitmo is a war crime, but blowing them up with a drone is groovy. Take a bow "human rights activists"! (iowahawk)

— teardownthisfishwrap

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:49 PM, 02/05/2013

Somebody should change your wrap, lol.

— montani semper liberi

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About this blog

Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.

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