Presidential Assassinations of U.S. Citizens

Last week, Glen Greenwald of Salon.com wrote about a shocking revelation buried in a Washington Post article by Dana Priest which described how the Obama administration has adopted the Bush policy of targeting selected American citizens for assassination if they are deemed by the President to be "terrorists"

As The Washington Times' Eli Lake reports, Adm. Dennis Blair was asked about this program at a Congressional hearing Tuesday and he acknowledged its existence:

The U.S. intelligence community policy on killing American citizens who have joined al Qaeda requires first obtaining high-level government approval, a senior official disclosed to Congress on Wednesday.Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair said in each case a decision to use lethal force against a U.S. citizen must get special permission. . . .He also said there are criteria that must be met to authorize the killing of a U.S. citizen that include "whether that American is involved in a group that is trying to attack us, whether that American is a threat to other Americans. Those are the factors involved."

Although Blair emphasized that it requires "special permission" before an American citizen can be placed on the assassination list, consider from whom that "permission" is obtained: President Obama, or someone else under his authority within the Executive Branch. There are no outside checks or limits at all on how these "factors" are weighed.

I don't know about you, but it disturbs me greatly that this, or any president, has the absolute power to target and order American citizens assassinated -- with no judicial oversight.

 Greenwald writes: "It would be perverse in the extreme, but wouldn't it be preferable to at least require the President to demonstrate to a court that probable cause exists to warrant the assassination of an American citizen before the President should be allowed to order it?  That would basically mean that courts would issue "assassination warrants" or "murder warrants" -- a repugnant idea given that they're tantamount to imposing the death sentence without a trial -- but isn't that minimal safeguard preferable to allowing the President unchecked authority to do it on his own, the very power he has now claimed for himself?  And if the Fifth Amendment's explicit guarantee -- that one shall not be deprived of life without due process -- does not prohibit the U.S. Government from assassinating you without any process, what exactly does it prohibit?"

I urge you to follow the web links (above) to Greenwald's articles, then consider the implications of the Bush-Obama assassination policy he describes.

The Obama administration -- like the Bush administration before it -- defines the "battlefield" as the entire world. So the President claims the power to order U.S. citizens killed anywhere in the world, while engaged even in the most benign activities carried out far away from any actual battlefield, based solely on his say-so and with no judicial oversight or other checks. That's quite a power for an American President to claim for himself.

In an age when "terrorist" can be so losely defined in secret by faceless government, one might ask which U.S. citizen is next on the hit list?

____________________________

The Passport Book

If you are interested in obtaining dual citizenship and the second passport that comes with that enhanced status, you can learn about every aspect of what is required in the latest 2009 edition of my book, The Passport Book.

The Passport Book is one of our most popular publications, also lists almost 100 countries and explains the residence and citizenship requirements of each, along with contacts.

The Sovereign Society also provides its members contact information for qualified professionals who can assist you in acquiring second citizenship based on naturalization, ancestry, marriage, religion, or even past political persecution by some nations -- and they do it the legal way.

Comments

[Paulette Hicks]

I became a member of the Sovereign Society as a result of purchasing The Passport Book. I did not expect, nor do I endorse any conservative political agenda, nor any trashing of President Obama. If this is embedded in your purpose, please remove me from any and all of your lists.

BOB BAUMAN RESPONDS:

Dear Ms. Hicks:
Thank you for your email response to my blog, for being a Sovereign Society member and for acquiring The Passport Book, which I hope you found useful.

Perhaps you should re-read and better understand what I wrote and what Mr. Greenwalt wrote.

Neither of us criticized Mr. Obama, but we did express our concern about any president of the United States having such unbridled power over the life and death of our citizens. We noted that this unwelcome policy originated under Mr. Bush, but unfortunately has been accepted by Mr. Obama.

I have no particular political agenda, but I am a libertarian conservative and have every right and intention to express my views as I please, both personally and in my writings.

If my exercise of freedom of speech bothers you, let me know and we will remove your name from our lists. We do hope you will stay with us. No doubt we do share some beliefs and I always admire a person willing to express his or her views, as you have.

All the best, Bob Bauman JD
The Sovereign Society LLC