In the past when a government killed someone it used to be called an assassination.
The U.S. government now uses the term: targeted killings.
At John Brennan’s, CIA conformation hearing on Feb 8, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) used an even more obstructive term: targeted lethal force.
What comes to mind is George Orwell’s 1984, and the Ministry of Truth, where the whole point is to obscure the truth.
The current administration is hiding – hiding behind watered down words. There is no reason to hide unless the administration is afraid that what they are doing is wrong.
Mirriam-Webster’s dictionary describes assassination as an act: “To murder (a usually prominent person) by sudden or secret attack often for political reasons.â€
This is exactly what the president is doing with drone attacks – murder: sudden and secret.
In an article by Charles Krauthammer on the Fox News website, he uses the argument that we are at war with Al Qaeda and terrorism, therefore these ‘targeted killings’ are not assassinations, but acts of war.
If this is true, then we are at war with anyone and everyone the president decides to be at war with. We can attack anyone with just the say so of the president.
Krauthammer goes on to say: “But today’s war is entirely different: no front line, no end in sight.â€
The idea that we are in an endless war should strike fear in everyone.
In the name of this war the president has expanded his power – his power to kill without checks and balances and without due process.
One of the basic principals of the founding fathers when they created this country was to avoid the coalescing of power in one individual, therefore the checks and balances built into the system. The Constitution also gave the citizens the Fifth Amendment, guaranteeing due process of law.
With President Obama’s use of drone assassinations in Pakistan and Yemen, he has overstepped the bounds of the United States Constitution and garnered himself the power over life and death, more power than any one man should wield.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/15/opinion/oconnell-targeted-killing
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assassinate
https://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_duep.html
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/02/15/in-defense-obama-drone-war/.html
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In regards to Benjamin Simpson Article “Assassinations undermine Constitution” , I believe the Constitution protects Americans and the citizen of the U.S. The U.S Constitution was not written for the people of Pakistan nor the citizens of Yemen. The Constitution was written “By the People for the People of the United States of America.” Hence the American Constitution, not the Constitution for the World. I don’t agree with killing of civilian lives but in acts of Terrorism it’s a form of self defense. Do you know how many American lives were sacrificed on 9/11 by the Hamburg Cell? To terrorist it’s a small price to pay sacrificing their lives, but for terrorists to reach their goal is a major gain in their society.
Americans are currently at war with terrorist and terrorist activist will not stop for anyone or anything. So to not follow up or keep the press on terrorism, it shows that Americans will not be defeat by a group that causes harm to other free liberal countries. Terrorist training camps are located around the world. The plot of 9/11 was thought of in the Philippines, practiced and rehearsed in Afghan and moved to Germany as where it was executed in the U.S. What were your thoughts on 9/11? Did you realize America was being attacked? What do you think about 9/11 now? What will be your response if it happened again? Do you realize within the last year alone the F.B.I has shut down local terrorist groups that have gone through training in Afghan and Pakistan. So for this article to even create an argument about killing foreign civilians, you will find yourself contradicting yourself if another terrorist attack would ever happen again. Please read your 2nd amendment right. Yes, it’s the right to bear arms, but it also states to “Defend Americans from enemies foreign and domestic.”We have not fought a war on U.S American soil since the civil war; we have been attacked Pearl Harbor, 9/11, USS Cole and other domestic attacks. . We live in a modern society world where as I have been in combat and seen the types of violence we as Americans would not want to see in our backyard. I respect your opinion, but realize what Americans must and will face if we as Americans don’t protect ourselves from terrorist and supporters of terrorism. As for your remark on the 5th amendment, I doubt Osama Bin Laden would have walked in a court room with his lawyers asking for his “Guarantee right for the Due Process.” be realistic about the situation and I also doubt every terrorist around the world will walk in freely asking for a fair trial. I don’t agree with everything the President does, but as the Commander in Chief and President of the United States he must secure the best interest of Americans and enforce a sense of security for the American people.