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In reply to the discussion: Another Kind of Extra-Judicial Killing [View all]Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)49. Wyden finds the memo inadequate thus oversight is hampered.
http://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-statement-on-doj-memo-on-the-killing-of-americans-during-counterterrorism-operations
As I and ten other senators told the President yesterday, if individual Americans choose to take up arms against the United States, there will clearly be some circumstances in which the President has the authority to use lethal force against those Americans, just as President Lincoln had the authority to use force against the Confederate Army during the Civil War. At the same time, it is vitally important for Congress and the American public to have a full understanding of how the executive branch interprets this authority, so that Congress and the public can decide whether the Presidents power to deliberately kill American citizens is subject to appropriate limitations and safeguards. Every American has the right to know when their government believes that it is allowed to kill them.
The Justice Department memo that was made public yesterday touches on a number of important issues, but it leaves many of the most important questions about the Presidents lethal authorities unanswered. Questions like how much evidence does the President need to decide that a particular American is part of a terrorist group?, does the President have to provide individual Americans with the opportunity to surrender? and can the President order intelligence agencies or the military to kill an American who is inside the United States? need to be asked and answered in a way that is consistent with American laws and American values. This memo does not answer these questions.
I will continue to press the Administration to provide Congress with any and all legal opinions that outline the Presidents authority to use lethal force against Americans, and I will not be satisfied until I have received them. I have not yet received an official response to the letter than I sent to Deputy National Security Advisor Brennan on this topic three weeks ago, but I look forward to raising the issue with him again at his nomination hearing this Thursday.
The Justice Department memo that was made public yesterday touches on a number of important issues, but it leaves many of the most important questions about the Presidents lethal authorities unanswered. Questions like how much evidence does the President need to decide that a particular American is part of a terrorist group?, does the President have to provide individual Americans with the opportunity to surrender? and can the President order intelligence agencies or the military to kill an American who is inside the United States? need to be asked and answered in a way that is consistent with American laws and American values. This memo does not answer these questions.
I will continue to press the Administration to provide Congress with any and all legal opinions that outline the Presidents authority to use lethal force against Americans, and I will not be satisfied until I have received them. I have not yet received an official response to the letter than I sent to Deputy National Security Advisor Brennan on this topic three weeks ago, but I look forward to raising the issue with him again at his nomination hearing this Thursday.
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IF they were outside the authority of the court how would it be required that:
Vincardog
Feb 2013
#9
No, and as we're seeing a drone strike is hardly the end of the process either
Recursion
Feb 2013
#11
Please link for me the judicial review of these drone strikes. The authority claimed is
Vincardog
Feb 2013
#14
What was leaked was the Administration's claim of an legal reasoning behind an unconstitutional
Vincardog
Feb 2013
#30
My problem is with the claim that the Administration can do them without review or oversight.
Vincardog
Feb 2013
#4
These acts are not limited to the military in a declared war. The authority claimed to
Vincardog
Feb 2013
#24
I am arguing that the powers claimed are illegal and unconstitutional. The actions should be
Vincardog
Feb 2013
#40
If the "war zone is out-moded" what is the source of the "War Powers"? A Seal Team
Vincardog
Feb 2013
#57
Then we must be seeing two different things. The Constitution says only Congress can declare war.
Vincardog
Feb 2013
#64
except that the Obama administration has just asserted that it is NOT SUBJECT...
mike_c
Feb 2013
#21
What was leaked was not what the Senate asked for and as Wyden points out... this "white memo"
Luminous Animal
Feb 2013
#39
Right, but this what the Senate got last summer, so oversight has been going on for a while.
Recursion
Feb 2013
#41
Oversight happens when the person or persons is given adequate information to provide oversight.
Luminous Animal
Feb 2013
#66
Huh? The man has already committed the crime of kidnapping and if the local is armed, the
Luminous Animal
Feb 2013
#67
In regards to level of scrutiny: So it is claimed but neither we nor our representatvies are allowed
Luminous Animal
Feb 2013
#75
No, it would be to have them executed on suspicion that he *might* do something someday.
Marr
Feb 2013
#77
If the drone pilot makes a mistake, the President can use the power of pardon anyway
FarCenter
Feb 2013
#53
"So long as the President is reasonably careful in who is on the targeting list" = Orwellian.
WinkyDink
Feb 2013
#61
I think we have clear evidence that: 1. Pilots are not police; 2. Drone hits aren't sniper-accurate;
WinkyDink
Feb 2013
#60
The purpose of a police sniper shooting a suspect in that situation is not to kill the suspect
slackmaster
Feb 2013
#76