Re: EXCLUSIVE: Justice Department memo reveals legal case for drone strikes on Americ
Its easy to make the claim he wasnt the target to cover their asses or to say they didnt know he was there at that time, they certainly knew the supposed target WAS there at that specific time. So either they didnt care who they killed, which is callous and careless or they did know and just didnt care.
Well there you go. In your view, it is more likely our current government consciously desires to kill teenagers (or at least doesn't care about killing teenagers) than it is that they didn't have 100% perfect knowledge of what was going on in a foreign country at one specific moment. I think that sums up our current disagreement fairly well. I for one have seen zero evidence whatsoever that would lead me to such a pessimistic assumption.
Due process doesnt include trial? Not so says the Constitution.
American citizens are GUARANTEED to be informed of the charges against them, American citizens are GUARANTEED the right to address their accusers, American citizens are GUARANTEED a trial by a jury of their peers, American citizens are GUARANTEED the right to appeal the decision of the courts...none of that can take place when the government arbitrarily decides to kill you upon their say so alone.
All those things apply to criminal prosecutions. Are you suggesting that we must criminally prosecute
all Americans before we deprive them of life or liberty? Surely if an american criminal is pointing a gun at a policeman, you would not say that the person must be criminally prosecuted and given a chance to address his accusers before the policeman is able to shoot him. So where do we draw the line? What about when the American is in a nuclear-armed foreign country hiding in cave somewhere plotting attacks, and we only get intelligence about his exact whereabouts once or twice a year? Do we have to risk the lives of soldiers by ordering them to physically invade said country and capture the guy alive, to bring him to trial? I think you said before you are in favor of drones, so I'm just wondering where exactly you draw the line?
To use the words of President Obama himself....if it saves just one life dont we have the obligation to act?
More likely, it saves the life of a terrorist and ends the lives of several terrorist victims.
Why do you and others think that the government takes these decisions likely and is ordering drone strikes whenever they have any inkling whatsoever that the person is a terrorist? You do realize that half the government is controlled by a party that would love nothing more than to impeach this executive, right? Even if you are right and Obama is totally callous and incompetent, surely he is at least rational enough to want to avoid being sent to jail for murdering innocent people...
You can sit there and rightly justify the killings of Americans without any trial just on the say so of the Administration?
You can sit there and rightly justify violating someones Constitutional rights just on the say so of the Administration?
You can sit there and justify our government killing people on perceived assumptions?
Oh relax, nobody is justifying anything. I'm just saying Obama doesn't deserve to be raked over the coals for asking for a memo on when drone strikes would be constitutionally legal, or for trying to take out terrorists (even American ones) before they kill innocent people. Give me a break.
The very second they act upon what they say, then you have every right to defend yourself and others by killing that person. Until then all that it is is lip service.
Thankfully, we have never been forced to wait until a terrorist attack (or any crime) actually occurs to punish those who intend to perpetrate such an act. I agree that speech alone is not a good reason to send a drone on someone (unless they are saying they are about to commit a terrorist attack). But what I have been saying all along, and what you guys persist in repeating despite the fact that there is no evidence whatsoever to support you in the memo, is that this document permits killing anyone who disagrees with the government. Calm down and try to see through the blind partisan hatred for a second, please.
A good analogy would be;
A person walks up to you on the street and says "Dave and his buddies are going to blow up your house" and you go over to Dave shoot him dead right there.
You guys are terrible at analogies. We are not talking about your next-door neighbor Dave, or hearsay based on some random guy. We are talking about a top US intelligence official putting his name (and likely liberty) on the line to say there is sufficient evidence to believe Dave is a terrorist plotting to kill American citizens. Moreover, the memo requires that capture be infeasible. In your analogy, did you make any attempt to stop Dave by some other fashion (e.g. calling the police)? No. You shot him dead right there. So your analogy fails just based on that.
I'll give you a better analogy. George Washington comes up to you one day as says Dave and his buddies, a team wanted by the government on suspicion of previous, severe acts of violence against random individuals, but currently at large and by all accounts planning more attacks, is going to blow up your town. You don't know where Dave lives, nobody does. You call the state police and the FBI, but they say you are on their own (either because they are scared to act or have been bribed by Dave and his buddies). Some time later, George Washington comes to you and says that Dave is going to be at a cafe in a neighboring town for about ten minutes on Monday. He doesn't know how close Dave is to perpetrating the attack on your town. Again, you call the police and the FBI, but they again refuse to help you. You have several choices. You could walk into the cafe to talk and possibly be shot by Dave and his buddies, and from there they might decide to continue with the attack, killing your wife and children and all your neighbors and friends. Or they might escape and you might not get another chance to stop them before the attack. You could do nothing, and hope this man suspected of previous violent acts is not actually going to hurt you and your town (though George Washington is a pretty reputable guy...), or that the police and FBI will hold him responsible after you and everyone else you love are dead. Or you could shoot him and risk being thrown in jail for murder, but at least you would have stopped an attack on your home and the potential deaths of hundreds if not thousands of
definitely innocent people.
What do you do?