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Attorney General Holder: Prez Can Assassinate Americans On U.S. Soil

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THE SINKHOLE OF LIBERTYImage by William Banzai

Attorney general Eric Holder wrote the following to Senator Rand Paul yesterday:

On February 20, 2013, you wrote to John Brennan requesting additional information concerning the Administration’s views about whether “the President has the power to authorize lethal force, such as drone strike, against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, and without trial.”

 

As members of this administration have previously indicated, the US government has not carried out drone strikes in the United States and has no intention of doing so. As a policy matter moreover, we reject the use of military force where well-established law enforcement authorities in this country provide the best means for incapacitating a terrorist threat. We have a long history of using the criminal justice system to incapacitate individuals located in our country who pose a threat to the United States and its interests abroad. Hundreds of individuals have been arrested and convicted of terrorism-related offenses in our federal courts.

 

The question you have posed is therefore entirely hypothetical, unlikely to occur, and one we hope no president will ever have to confront. It is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution and applicable laws of the United States for the President to authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory of the United States. For example, the president could conceivably have no choice but to authorize the military to use such force if necessary to protect the homeland in the circumstances like a catastrophic attack like the ones suffered on December 7, 1941, and September 11, 2001.

 

Were such an emergency to arise, I would examine the particular facts and circumstances before advising the President on the scope of his authority.

There’s more to the following statement than appears at first blush:

As a policy matter moreover, we reject the use of military force where well-established law enforcement authorities in this country provide the best means for incapacitating a terrorist threat.

Specifically, Holder did not say “we are legally constrained by the Constitution from depriving people of life, liberty or property without due process of law, and from using military force on U.S. soil”.  Instead, he said that the Obama administration was so far abstaining from using a power it already has as a current “policy” decision.

John Glaser notes:

The concluding legal opinion represents a radical betrayal of constitutional limits imposed on the state for depriving citizens of life, liberty and property. Officially now, Obama’s kingly authority to play Judge, Jury, and Executioner and deprive Americans of their life without due process of law applies not only to Americans abroad but to citizens that are inside the United States.

 

“The US Attorney General’s refusal to rule out the possibility of drone strikes on American citizens and on American soil is more than frightening – it is an affront the Constitutional due process rights of all Americans,” Sen. Paul said in a statement.

 

Holder, along with the Obama administration, is making it seem as if the President’s use of lethal force, as in the drone war, would only be used in circumstances like another impending 9/11 attack or something. Only when an attack is imminent.

 

But that categorical limitation on the President’s authority to kill depends upon their definition of “imminence,” which we learned from a leaked Justice Department white paper last month, is extremely broad.

 

The memo refers to what it calls a “broader concept of imminence” than what has traditionally been required, like actual intelligence of an ongoing plot against the US.

 

“The condition that an operational leader present an ‘imminent’ threat of violent attack against the United States does not require the United States to have clear evidence that a specific attack on U.S. persons and interests will take place in the immediate future,” the memo states, contradicting conventional international law.

 

Instead, so long as an “informed, high-level” US official claims the targeted American has been “recently” involved in “activities” that pose a threat and “there is  no evidence suggesting that he has renounced or abandoned such activities,” then the President can order his assassination. The memo does not define “recently” or “activities.”

 

Holder also insists that in the case of such “extraordinary circumstances,” like another impending 9/11, he ”would examine the particular facts and circumstances before advising the president of the scope of his authority.”

 

Boy, do I feel comforted.

This is not entirely surprising.  As we noted in December 2011, a top constitutional expert confirmed that Obama was claiming the authority to assassinate Americans on U.S. soil.   We reported that month:

For more than a year and a half, the Obama administration has said it could target American citizens for assassination without any trial or due process.

 

But now, as shown by the debates surrounding indefinite detention, the government is saying that America itself is a battlefield.

 

AP notes today:

U.S. citizens are legitimate military targets when they take up arms with al-Qaida, top national security lawyers in the Obama administration said Thursday.

 

***

 

The government lawyers, CIA counsel Stephen Preston and Pentagon counsel Jeh Johnson … said U.S. citizens do not have immunity when they are at war with the United States.

 

Johnson said only the executive branch, not the courts, is equipped to make military battlefield targeting decisions about who qualifies as an enemy.

 

The courts in habeas cases, such as those involving whether a detainee should be released from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba, make the determination of who can be considered an enemy combatant.

We pointed out a year ago, the director of the FBI said he’d have to “check” to see if the president had the authority to assassinate Americans on U.S. soil. We reported last October that form Department of Justice lawyer John Yoo – the guy who wrote the memo justifying torture, even of children, which was used to justify torture of innocent people, including children – said that the president has the power to assassinate Americans on U.S. soil in times of war.

And Mother Jones notes:

In a Google+ Hangout last month, President Obama refused to say directly if he had the authority to use lethal force against US citizens. As Mother Jones reported at the time, the reason the president was being so coy is that the answer was likely yes. Now we know that’s exactly what was happening.

It is not very reassuring that the same unaccountable agency which decides who should be killed by drones also spies on all Americans.

Indeed:

You might assume – in a vacuum – that this might be okay (even though it trashes the Constitution, the separation of military and police actions, and the division between internal and external affairs).

 

But it is dangerous in a climate where you can be labeled as or suspected of being a terrorist simply for questioning war, protesting anything, asking questions about pollution or about Wall Street shenanigans, supporting Ron Paul, being a libertarian, holding gold, or stocking up on more than 7 days of food. And see this.

 

And it is problematic in a period in which FBI agents and CIA intelligence officials, constitutional law expert professor Jonathan Turley, Time Magazine, Keith Olbermann and the Washington Post have all said that U.S. government officials “were trying to create an atmosphere of fear in which the American people would give them more power”, and even former Secretary of Homeland Security – Tom Ridge – admitst hat he was pressured to raise terror alerts to help Bush win reelection.

 

And it is counter-productive in an age when the government – instead of doing the things which could actually make us safer – are doing things which increase the risk of terrorism.

 

And it is insane in a time of perpetual war. See this, this, this and this.

 

And when the “War on Terror” in the Middle East and North Africa which is being used to justify the attack on Americans was planned long before 9/11.

 

And when Jimmy Carter’s National Security Adviser told the Senate in 2007 that the war on terror is “a mythical historical narrative”.

 

And 9/11 was entirely foreseeable, but wasn’t stopped.   Indeed, no one in Washington even wants to hear how 9/11 happened, even though that is necessary to stop future terrorist attacks.  And the military has bombed a bunch of oil-rich countries when it could have instead taken out Bin Laden years ago.

 

As I noted in [an analogous context]:

The government’s indefinite detention policy – stripped of it’s spin – is literally insane, and based on circular reasoning. Stripped of p.r., this is the actual policy:

  • If you are an enemy combatant or a threat to national security, we will detain you indefinitely until the war is over
  • But trust us, we know you are an enemy combatant and a threat to national security

See how that works?

And – given that U.S. soldiers admit that if they accidentally kill innocent Iraqis and Afghanis, they then “drop” automatic weapons near their body so they can pretend they were militants – it is unlikely that the government would ever admit that an American citizen it assassinated was an innocent civilian who has nothing at all to do with terrorism.

Read this if you have any doubt as to how much liberty Americans have lost.

Senator Paul told MSNBC:

The response by Holder could lead to a situation where “an Arab-American in Dearborn (Mich.) is walking down the street emailing with a friend in the Mideast and all of a sudden we drop a drone” on him. He said it was “really shocking” that President Barack Obama, a former constitutional law professor, would leave the door open to such a possibility.

 True ... but you don't have to be Arab-American to get in trouble.

 

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Wed, 03/06/2013 - 16:01 | 3305835 DoneThis2Long
DoneThis2Long's picture

I've been yelling for that off the top of my lungs !!!! But instead of impeaching, he got the opportunity to finish us off. We must retaliate against those who made it possible for the prick to get back in. Boycott their businesses, movies, cities, states .... what-fucking-ever .... vote with your wallets and send emails letting them know what you did and why. Money talks.

Forget demonstrations, rallies ..... bullshit. All you are doing is spending your money and time, helping those who most likely supported the prick get re-elected (such as Pritzkers who own hotels you'd be staying at while going for rallies, gasoline, food, travel expenses, etc etc ..... all that costs money and most likely your $ goes to the wrong people. If you boycott you most likely loose nothing, very little if not even gain, while the other party looses most. And if you must use the company, use as little as possible. If you must use Comcast ... downgrade to the basic package or switch. The programming is garbage anyways.

Adapt.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 11:22 | 3304729 monad
monad's picture

The executive, congress, the military and the judicial system, the education system and the media have all been captured, along with the Enemies of the United States who captured them. Take the CFR first.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 11:48 | 3304851 1000 splendid suns
Wed, 03/06/2013 - 14:32 | 3305450 monad
monad's picture

You won't have to. When you see the list of CFR members you'll see everyone.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 10:19 | 3304494 Believable-Hypocrite
Believable-Hypocrite's picture

Don't you people know, some Americans are more equal than other Americans.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 10:39 | 3304553 IamtheREALmario
IamtheREALmario's picture

It has nothing to do with being American.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 10:00 | 3304431 rsnoble
rsnoble's picture

The creators of 9-11 have to stay out of jail at all costs in order to complete the NWO.  Stand in the way and get killed.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 10:26 | 3304517 Shell Game
Shell Game's picture

Getting out of the way is highly overrated..

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 09:33 | 3304327 Mercury
Mercury's picture

Again, the Obama administration's broad and sweeping power grabs are more dangerous and alarming than the specific means (and weapons) by which they exercise those powers.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 12:04 | 3304930 Rainman
Rainman's picture

Oblameo is sneaking a $ 65 Billion pledge to the IMF* into the budget . There goes the fake sequester " savings ".

* IMF = backdoor European Bailout Fund 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/white-house-seeks-new-money-for-imf/2013/03/05/95c0fcc4-85f1-11e2-98a3-b3db6b9ac586_story.html?hpid=z4

 

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 09:43 | 3304376 Sofa King Confused
Sofa King Confused's picture

Someone tell Vince Foster he can be LEGALLY killed now.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 11:25 | 3304738 DaveyJones
DaveyJones's picture

Hillary was so ahead of her time

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 15:48 | 3305772 DoneThis2Long
DoneThis2Long's picture

It is so weird reading from someone tuned to the same frequency on the subject. Wow ....

So very few comprehend that Bubba was the root of many of today's problems, which during his reign , were either minimal or, did not exist. He made it possible for banks to go off the rails thereby destroying a good safeguard in place since early 30's and thus the banking crisis is rooted in his pen. Same for terrorists sprouting by denying to take out OSB/USB when he was in the cross hairs of our sharp shooters. He allowed the chinese to start the purchasing binge of American assets (intellectual and otherwise). He forced Bush's hand on 9/11 ... and then GW's team fucked that one up, and on, and on, and on.

But even he had (some) respect for the Constitution and the due process, unlike the "Current Resident" of 1600 Pann Ave. who has none.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 17:00 | 3306065 DaveyJones
DaveyJones's picture

He was a serious POS however so was the next guy and well the next guy. I've come to the conclusion that as this place hits the fan, each "commander in chief" will get exponentially worse. He/she will justify it with the defense that he was handed this crap but given that he is a politician, and probably from either criminal party, he will serve the masters as well as screw up 

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 09:12 | 3304279 HoofHearted
HoofHearted's picture

Fuck you, Eric Holder.

(No we haven't forgotten about you, Bernanke.)

Why do you think I own semi-auto weapons? With a bastard like this in power, there really isn't another choice.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 09:12 | 3304276 Hannibal
Hannibal's picture

We need a Nuremberg type trial.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 14:00 | 3305320 monad
monad's picture

We need to teach Jared how to hit what he's aiming at. 

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 11:46 | 3304848 DoneThis2Long
DoneThis2Long's picture

+5

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 11:16 | 3304659 El Viejo
El Viejo's picture

Hannibal:

Interesting you should say this. Everyone expected Albert Speer, the close confidant and architect of Adof Hitler, to be executed along with the other top nazis on trial at Nuremburg. He was spared the gallows though when he "confessed" that there came a point in his life when he lost respect for Hitler and all those that scrificed German citizens for the sake of Germany. This is the other side of the coin and a lot of political extremists have a similar problem to Speer's. This is supposed to be a country "of the people, by the people, and for the people"

Lest we forget!

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 09:13 | 3304280 wonderatitall
wonderatitall's picture

im not a republican but i cant wait for them to drone obamas ass

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 13:05 | 3305176 dark_matter
dark_matter's picture

I really doubt that a Republican President would be doing anything any different.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 08:38 | 3304234 KickIce
KickIce's picture

Holder = extra large POS

Looking skyward:  "Hey, what's that object flying over my house?"

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 08:25 | 3304214 krispkritter
krispkritter's picture

White House Guide to Surviving Obama Drone Strikes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnoTG1sxGEk&feature=player_embedded

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 13:09 | 3305192 dark_matter
dark_matter's picture

That was obviously fake. A real White House Guide would have included using scissors to defend yourself.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 10:55 | 3304193 MickV
MickV's picture

Of course this is all whining GW. The beatings will continue until the mass realization that Obama is a Usurper, and not eligible to hold the office because he was born British, of a British subject father who was married to his mother on 8/4/1961. Why don't you speak the truth and alert the public. Are you scared, or threatened, or just not that smart? The path back to adherence to the Constitution is directly before us--- the mass realization that Obama is NOT a natural born Citizen will put him and his central banker handlers, as well as the treasonous Congress and Useful idiot media in full defensive mode. It's that easy, but you refuse to alert the public. Why? Is the Constitution just a relic? Are the requirements to hold the office of President just technicalities? You are aiding and abetting the criminals by not sounding the alarm.

 

US law:

"The Constitution does not in words say who shall be natural-born citizens. Resort must be had elsewhere to ascertain that. At common law, with the nomenclature of which the framers of the Constitution were familiar, it was never doubted that all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners." Minor v. Happersett, 88 US 162, 167 (1874)

 

Natural born Citizens are born on US soil to US CITIZEN PARENTS. It is a security requirment, and Obama is the perfect example of who is not eligible--- those born of foreign allegiance, and why the framers required it. SPeak the truth GW, and it will set you free.

 

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 07:47 | 3304168 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Everyone seems quite surprised that a man who advised a former president to pardon an international criminal (Rich), went along with a former AG's order to incinerate women & children at Waco, the abduction of a little cuban boy (Elian) from family in Fla by a SWAT Team and turn him over to Castro, ran an international gun smuggling operation to Mexican drug cartels from US soil...and was party to filing an amicus brief to prevent law abiding citizens from carrying a simple pistol to protect themselves from predators (Heller)...

...would now, defend the indefensible.

Remarkable.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 11:43 | 3304830 madcows
madcows's picture

Who's surprised?  No one.  He won't prosecute any one normal people would consider dangerous, and he goes after anyone normal people would consider honorable.  This administration is extremely dangerous. What is surprising is that it hasn't been challenged.  The MSM praises him.  The wacko lefties bow down before him.  And normal america is oblivious siting in front of their latest iGadget (the modern day idiot box). 

The Constitution does not permit "standing Armies", lest the government should abuse its powers.  And, here we are, an inumerable number of government agencies loading up on guns, bullets, tanks, and drones, AND an administration that says it can kill w/o due process.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 05:26 | 3304059 Bloodstock
Bloodstock's picture

If America is a battlefield the an AR-15 should be standard issue for everyone.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 07:38 | 3304158 Watauga
Watauga's picture

This is all just ridiculousness. It's all George Bush's fault anyway.  Ridiculousness.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 04:30 | 3304026 AnAnonymous
AnAnonymous's picture

What is an "arab-american"?

By the way, 'americans' regularly remove people. 'Americans' kill hand cuffed people (including some other 'americans')

Considering this, what are 'americans' discussing here?

The use of a drone to perform the job?

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 14:33 | 3305459 DoneThis2Long
DoneThis2Long's picture

Considering this, what are 'americans' discussing here?

The use of a drone to perform the job?

 

You should check if the ID of "Clueless" is available. If it is open, grab it. If not try "Clueless x2".

WTF is African American? How about "European American". "Latin American"? "South American - North American"? It is either an American or not.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 13:44 | 3305275 akak
akak's picture

 

What is an "arab-american"?

Indeed, indeed, eight minus five times indeed.

Furtherthemore, what, pray tell, is a "US 'american' citizenism citizen"?

Not even the sage can safely answer that question, for the answer lies in the realm of insanitation.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 04:26 | 3304020 Leto II
Leto II's picture

Dont talk to Cops

Top 8 reasons not to talk to someone with a badge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6wXkI4t7nuc#!

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 07:53 | 3304172 nmewn
nmewn's picture

+1

I no longer give "the law" any support whatsoever. I refuse to support anything that can make me or anyone a criminal with a simple majority vote.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 14:20 | 3305399 DoneThis2Long
DoneThis2Long's picture

+5 .... :-)

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 11:10 | 3304660 DaveyJones
DaveyJones's picture

I'm going to have to turn you in for that comment Nmewn

But I will give you the discount rate

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 19:23 | 3306640 nmewn
nmewn's picture

We can be roomies! ;-)

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 20:47 | 3306924 DaveyJones
DaveyJones's picture

Not like that movie I hope 

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 08:23 | 3304210 krispkritter
krispkritter's picture

Psst:

http://gunfreezone.net/wordpress/index.php/2013/03/05/attention-floridia...

 

Another bill supports complete coverage for the 3-day waiting period and supposedly there is one about having passed an 'Anger Management' course before purchasing a gun...it takes a special kind of stupid these days.

 

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 19:22 | 3306636 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Heard about that stupid one (the anger management billl) on the way home.

It kinda made me mad ;-)

But only for a minute, so no government mandated intervention needed from State Senator Audrey Gibson or her crony psych nerds in sweater vests...aka stupid brain-dead bitch(s)...she really needs to understand the basic concepts of our laws before she proposes anymore...lol.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 04:13 | 3304016 smacker
smacker's picture

 

During Obama's live Whitehouse presentation last week, carried live on ZH, Obama gave the game away to those who were paying close attention. At one point, he said: blah blah "I'm not a dictator". But when he uttered those words he lowered his head and moved his eyes from the audience down to the floor in front of him.

That said it all for me. People almost always turn their eyes away when they know they're being untruthful.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 11:38 | 3304805 jayman21
jayman21's picture

People look away when they are thinking.  In his case it might be lying but I think it has much more to do with his lips moving than the position of his head or the direction of his eyes.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 07:18 | 3304133 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

emperor is more correct, imho. And yet the power of the Imperial Presidency is based on two mutually reinforcing pillars: the fact that the US Constitution gives quite extensive powers to the commander in chief and the fact that the US Congress tacitly allows the president to engage in military conflict without war declaration

the latter, after decades, blurred the understanding of the US military and government about what are national borders and similar other international customs (international customs being anyway tainted by foreignness), and so all that is happening is that the US is re-importing something that used to be an export "product"

meanwhile the UK has started to strip targets of their citizenship before engaging them

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 11:16 | 3304695 smacker
smacker's picture

 

Well, dictator, emperor. I'm easy with any title that adequately describes the office holder and his gameplan. Fascist asshole might also be appropriate to Obama?

... ...

Yes, I saw the secretive nullifying of passports and citizenship of people who were actually born in the UK. It is usually carried out when they go abroad for holidays or other private travel. And no lawful process has been followed, just a signature on a piece of paper by Theresa May-Home Secretary. Shameful.

Imagine that: you travel outside the UK and when you get back, the Almighty Immigration Agency deny you entry back into the UK, informing you that you're no longer a British citizen and you have no right of entry. And then they seize your passport. Explaining to the jackboot that you were a British citizen at birth, and when you went away three weeks ago will not help.

Game over.

I thought that was a blatant violation of a UN Charter drawn up after WWII to prevent stateless people. This kind of arbitrary extra-judicial activity is what Obama is doing in America.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 13:22 | 3305222 DoneThis2Long
DoneThis2Long's picture

I am not certain if the Brits are leading this race to the bottom, or the USSA, but clearly it is a neck-in-neck.

Reading endless responses, here and elsewhere, it is obvious, only a small percentage of the citizenry is aware of WTF is going on and even less on WTF to do about it.

Even trying to discuss the issue, openly, makes most who get it, look like tin-foil cap wearing rambling idiots, and left with nobody to bounce ideas off of. Either we are preaching to the chorus, or, are talking above someone's head to the point to where just saying fuck-it, is the best option. And when a former prediction becomes reality, the standard reply is "what were you going to do about it?".

And the media has become so fucking lame. Today, the former CNN format is needed like never before, yet the idiots turn tabloid, in a race with MSNBC on who can loose most viewers. I guess when more people get their news from John Steward than from normal MMS, we know we are so fucked.

 

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 17:49 | 3306273 smacker
smacker's picture

Agreed.

The good news is that more and more people must be wising up to what's going on. Why? Because ZeroHedge is ranked at about 2,000 in the global website blog tables. That is HIGH! - especially for a site which is financial-centric.

That means *millions* of people are reading its truths every day.

When it comes to action...there aren't many options and these events usually follow a well worn path. It all comes down to when enough is enough. People are stocking up on guns/ammo! - including the government. <-)

 

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 11:17 | 3304651 DaveyJones
DaveyJones's picture

"allows" is the key word which makes them just as much a traitor

The "war on terror" is a war on anything but.  

It "allows" a complete change in both international and domestic "procedure" and propels the executive branch to the very thing this nation was founded at preventing

THis latest "admission" is the beginning of the final chapter where the federal executive becomes the policing power in every state.

and because it is a "military necessity," and because these folks are now "enemies of the state," good bye due process

so many folks fail to realize that changing one word

can change a nation 

Scary shit indeed

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 11:43 | 3304831 DoneThis2Long
DoneThis2Long's picture

Nowadays everything is "classified" while the media is a joke. We lack the journalistic capacity of past - intellectually and morally speaking.

We are so fucked.

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 05:27 | 3304061 gratefultraveller
gratefultraveller's picture

Don't they say that only public denial makes it "really" true?

Wed, 03/06/2013 - 11:21 | 3304632 DaveyJones
DaveyJones's picture

and "only the true messiah would deny that he is the messiah"

So clearly he is not 

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