LICENSE TO KILL

Unelected bureaucrats can now order drone strikes against potential enemies of the nation, even if those enemies are American citizens. The Department of Justice contends that murdering people who present an imminent threat to America does not violate international law. Everything I've read says it does.

Look at it this way. An Al Qaeda operative is staying in a hotel room in Moscow. This person, according to someone in our Department of Justice or some other sector of our intelligence community, poses an imminent threat to America and its national security. Therefore, this operative must be killed in order to prevent them from any attempt to carry out an attack, even if it means flying a drone into Russian airspace and blowing up the hotel room. What if the Russians claimed the same right to fire a missile or fly a drone into any building in America because someone is a member of an anti-Russian terrorist organization and therefore they have the international legal right to defend themselves against all potential aggression?

How would you feel about another nation claiming the same right to take out what they determine to be an imminent threat inside our own borders as we have?

International law says every attempt must be made to arrest a suspect before deadly force is used.  But now, the Obama administration asserts that a so -called high level government official in the Executive branch can determine whether or not to kill someone without first getting permission from the courts or any other branch of government. The Bush administration used this policy to justify the invasion of Iraq "because of the imminent threat Iraq posed to America".

The Obama administration has expanded this doctrine to mean that no matter what nation a suspect is a citizen of, the administration has the right to fly a remote controlled drone into that sovereign nation and execute that individual without the permission from the government of that country.

Drones will eventually be patrolling the air space over the United States. They will be used tactically by both law enforcement and the military. Some in the military are suggesting drones, or more specifically the person operating those flying bombs, be given medals of valor. That means that someone in a secure area, sitting behind a desk, remotely operating the drone, will receive a military commendation that’s equal to or greater than the bravery of a soldier fighting on the front lines.

We now live in a nation where privacy or the right to your day in court can be bypassed for reasons of national security by someone, somewhere, in the upper echelons of government who will be authorized to order a drone strike on any U.S. citizen they consider to be a threat and may even be awarded a medal of valor for doing so.