Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Coup d’état Against the Rule of Law

As Obama jokes with Phil Jackson, Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson:
White House lawyers are mulling the legality of proposed attempts to assassinate an American citizen, Anwar al Awlaki, who is believed to be part of the leadership of the al Qaeda group in Yemen, according to two people briefed by U.S. intelligence officials.

One of the people briefed said opportunities to "take out" Awlaki "may have been missed" because of the legal questions surrounding a lethal attack which would specifically target an American citizen.

A spokesperson said the White House declined to comment.

Hundreds of FBI and other federal agents will fan out this week as part of a secret operation to pursue leads about Americans with connections to Yemen that were previously dismissed as not significant, according to law enforcement officials.
Not arrest, detain, interrogate, and try Awlaki -- no, murder him outright.

The FBI and "other federal agents" (Blackwater perhaps?) will fan out this week? Will every US citizen who ever visited Yemen be arrested? Sent to Gitmo or Bagram? Disappeared? Perhaps given the same treatment accorded by the FBI and "other federal agents" to Mark Clark and Fred Hampton?

I defy anyone to see daylight between the Obama Administration approach to law and that showed by the pre-1938 Third Reich.