Obama Administration Sued By The ACLU Over Policy To Assassinate US Citizens Involved In Terrorist Actions Against The U.S.

Anwar al-Aulaqi, New Mexico-born and linked to al-Qaeda. The Obama administration is continuing a policy begun under the Bush administration, which authorizes the CIA and the American military to kill American citizens abroad if they are involved in terrorist actions against the U.S. (al-Jazeera)

ACLU Sues Obama Administration Over Alleged Assassination Plot -- Wall Street Journal

You’ve got to tip your hat to the ACLU. The organization will sue anyone along the political spectrum at just about any time. All it takes is a violation of one’s constitutional rights. Of course, it doesn’t hurt if the issue is likely to garner a headline or two.

The organization proved itself once again an equal-opportunity litigant on Monday when it filed suit against the Obama administration over an alleged policy of killing American citizens suspected of terrorism.

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More News On The ACLU Suing The U.S. Government Over Targeted Killings Of U.S. Citizens

Rights groups sue over U.S. authority to use terror kill list -- Washington Post
NY groups seek DC order blocking targeted killings -- AP
Suit Challenges Reach of U.S. 'Targeted Killings' -- Wall Street Journal
Rights groups challenge Obama on targeted killings -- Reuters
ACLU Sues U.S. Over Targeted Killing of Citizens -- Bloomberg
Rights groups sue to quash US order to kill Awlaki -- AFP
Rights Groups Sue U.S. on Effort to Kill Cleric -- New York Times

My Comment: Protecting the terrorists who have a U.S. Passport .... what else is new.

Can A U.S. Citizen Who Kills Osama Bin Laden Be Prosecuted For Murder?

Is It Legal To Kill Osama bin Laden? -- Foreign Policy

Not really. But if you act alone, you're probably in the clear.

Gary Faulkner, the American man detained in Pakistan while trying to kill Osama bin Laden, will be released this week without charges, according to his family. The 52-year-old Colorado construction worker was arrested last week in northwest Pakistan for carrying weapons -- including a pistol and 40-inch sword -- without a permit. Questions of practicality (and sanity) aside, had Faulkner succeeded, could he have been charged with murder?

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My Comment: If someone is successful in killing Bin Laden, and if a U.S. prosecutor threatens to prosecute such an individual for murder .... the outcry and protests from millions of Americans will make this prosecutor's life a living hell.

Are US Citizens Who Support Terrorism Legally Protected From Assassination?

Anwar al Awlaki

Drone Strike on Al Qaeda Scrapped 'Cause Officials Feared Prosecution -- FOX News

White House lawyers are mulling the legality of proposed attempts to kill an American citizen, Anwar al Awlaki, who is believed to be part of the leadership of the al Qaeda group in Yemen behind a series of terror strikes, 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.

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My Comment: Short answer .... yes. No US officer is going to order the killing of a US citizen without the proper notification and approval from his superiors. In this case .... it will have to come from the President and the proper Congressional leadership.

Will the President sign off on this .... I would have to bet no.

If Anwar al Awlaki is to be killed, it will be with someone else .... and collateral damage is what the report will finally say. This will protect everyone, and give what every politician and CIA official craves for .... grounds for deniability.

Who Are The Most Hated People In America?

Lawyers Who Defend Terrorists, the Most Hated People in America -- ABC News

Lawyer Says It's Their Job to 'Represent People Who Are Hated'.

When Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab takes his seat in a Detroit federal courtroom next month, he will do so as one of the most hated men in Amnerica.

But what about the woman next to him? Chief Public Defender Miriam Siefer hasn't yet spoken about her newest client, but those who came before her say representing terrorists comes with a unique set of stresses that can take a punishing toll.

"It was a huge strain," Gerald Zerkin, attorney for Zacarias Moussaoui, the only 9/11 conspirator yet to go on trial, told ABCNews.com. "I wouldn't want to do it again."

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My Comment: I certainly do not envy these people .... none at all. But as bad as defending Zacarias Moussaoui was for Gerald Zerkin, it will pale for those who will be defending the 9/11 leaders and planners when their trial starts in New York sometime this year(or next) .... after all .... they are responsible for killing 3,000 people.

Miranda Rights For Terrorists

JOHN D MCHUGH/AFP/Getty Images (Global TV)

From The Weekly Standard:

When 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad was captured on March 1, 2003, he was not cooperative. “I’ll talk to you guys after I get to New York and see my lawyer,” he said, according to former CIA Director George Tenet.

Of course, KSM did not get a lawyer until months later, after his interrogation was completed, and Tenet says that the information the CIA obtained from him disrupted plots and saved lives. “I believe none of these successes would have happened if we had had to treat KSM like a white-collar criminal – read him his Miranda rights and get him a lawyer who surely would have insisted that his client simply shut up,” Tenet wrote in his memoirs.

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My Comment: With this policy in place .... it is a guarantee that we are now positioning ourselves to be the target for terrorist strikes.

Canada had the same option .... and the Canadian Supreme Court said NO .... no rights for Afghan detainees.