DOJ Drone Memo: AUMF Trumps All

DOJ Drone Memo: AUMF Trumps All And Rights Are Subject To Arbitrary Revocation In Times Of 'War'

from the killing-in-the-name-of dept

The long-awaited "drone memo" has now been released, and it details the DOJ's justifications for the extra-judicial killing of American citizens. While the government runs through various permutations of its arguments for "justified" killings, the short version can be boiled down to four letters: AUMF.

The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists was passed three days after the 9/11 attacks and is every bit the sort of kneejerk legislation every lawmaker should approach warily, but seldom do. This kicked off America's "War on Terror," a slippery slope "battlefield" that has been used to justify everything from domestic surveillance by the NSA to the purchase of cell phone tower spoofers and discarded military vehicles by local police departments.

The memo (which starts at page 67 of the embedded document below -- the legal decision ordering the release is above it) starts out with the DOJ doing Congress' thinking for it. This part discusses the "authority" behind the killings, aligning it roughly with the deadly use of force by law enforcement, something that makes certain killings lawful under certain circumstances.

The justifications listed below constantly cite 18 USC 1119(b), a law that simply states that it's illegal for a US citizen to kill another US citizen residing outside US borders, making them subject to the United States' laws on murder and manslaughter. But what looks simple and solid on the law books is apparently filled with loopholes and things Congress meant to make clear but apparently didn't.

Read More At: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140623/11050927659/doj-drone-memo-aumf-trumps-all-rights-are-subject-to-arbitrary-revocation-times-war.shtml

 

Pentagon Official: The Obama Drone Kill Memo Is Out And Libertarians Were Right

Joseph Miller is the pen name for a ranking Department of Defense official with a background in U.S. special operations and combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has worked in strategic planning.

On Monday, the White House memo used to justify drone attacks on U.S. citizens was released, and it appears to confirm the worst suspicions of its libertarian critics. The Obama administration had sought to keep the memo secret, and now we know why: Because there are no checks and balances; there are no classified courts. Indeed, the memo reveals that the president of the United States ordered the targeting killing of U.S. citizens overseas — in violation of their constitutional right to due process — sans any type of oversight outside of the executive.

The 41-page Department of Justice memorandum outlining the administration’s attempt to justify the killing of U.S. citizens accused of plotting acts of terrorism abroad was released on Monday under order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York. The court did so in response to a Freedom Of Information Act request submitted by both the American Civil Liberties Union and The New York Times.

< snip >

The issue was how the administration could legally pursue lethal actions against its own citizens living abroad, who the administration accused of conspiring to commit acts of terrorism — but who were not actively engaged in committing an act of terrorism or fighting U.S. troops in a war zone — without a conviction in court. American citizens are afforded the right to due process under both the Fifth Amendment and 14th Amendment. And since it is illegal to murder a U.S. citizen abroad under federal statues, some question whether CIA officers involved in the targeted killings of American citizens under the legal framework the memo lays out are guilty of murder.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/06/24/p...rtarians-were-right-its-murder/#ixzz35fU3Pi6C


Compare and contrast the torturous rationale for extra-constitutional murder by the American State with that of the murderous National Socialist regime in Germany.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/murder-by-impunity/