What Does White House Memo On Drones Mean? What Will Happen?

1. 72

   crazyhorsesghostposted 11 years ago

   What Does White House Memo On Drones Mean? What Will Happen?
   
   Legal experts are saying that there are grave reservations by legal experts here in the United States about a White House Memo that said that the US could use drones or other methods to kill US Citizens who were associated with or working with Al-Quadia. Will this memo prove to be a real problem for the Obama administration.
   
   Every American should be concerned if the President and his lawyers are making up their own laws. Where will this go to. Will there eventually be hearings about this issue. Does make you wonder.
   
   

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2. 73

   Jeff Berndtposted 11 years ago

   What will happen? /Probably/ nothing. But that's not the point.
   
   The point is that this assertion--that it's okay for the executive branch to kill a US citizen it suspects of being a terrorist--is chilling. This is an argument for the power to commit murder. When a state kills someone after due process of law, we call it the death penalty. When a state does it without due process, we call it an "extrajudicial execution," which is fancified lawyer talk for murder.
   
   No matter what you think of President Obama's other policies, this particular policy is a bad one, even if this administration never puts it into practice. When W started listening in on international phone calls without a warrant, it was a bad idea then. The Obama administration is still doing it now, and it's still a bad idea. So even if you think Obama's a great president who would never abuse this power, there's no guarantee that the next guy who sits in the Oval Office is going to be as scrupulous as you think Obama is.
   
   (I generally like President Obama, but this is one of a handful of issues where I think he's dead wrong.)

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3. 59

   eternals3ptemberposted 11 years ago

   As long as Congress does not write into law the nullification of the Bush era legislature allowing Presidents unlimited power when dealing with al-Qaeda, they will have just that: Ulimited power. Write your congressmen and keep this out of our Presidents' hands. Not just Obama's, but all future presidents.

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4. 57

   Mike Marksposted 11 years ago

   just a btw, if you saw and found believable Spielberg's new "Lincoln" movie, I think it suggests that if presidents didn't make up their own laws the slaves might not have been freed. 
   
   Now every citizen in the midst of a crime should be apprehended alive and tried, but sometimes that doesn't seem like the best choice.  I mean, if a guy is in the process of mowing down theater goers or school children and a cop has the opportunity to use what tool he has, in the cops case his gun, to kill the killer before he kills one more other citizen, well then using that tool might be the cops best choice.  So now we have a tool called a drone and a scenario where a citizen in the midst of a crime may not be apprehended alive in time to stop the killing of one or more other citizens, should we use the tool?  If you say yes to the cop/gun scenario, then you may say yes to the president/drone scenario.  To so say yes, you have to assume that in the time allowed the culprit can not be captured alive before he does his damage, and you have to suspend the idea that drones are such a pussy method for delivery death to your adversary
   (apologes to female readers but if you know a better synonym for the word I resorted to let me know... I certainly don't use it with any actual gender reference). 
   Finally, will the right to kill citizens, be it gun/cop or drone, be abused? Killing from a distance is usually easier than having to face your target/victim eyeball to eyeball, so the question may become "does ease lead to abuse?"  That suggests, "Do we have to depend on the trigger man to always be sufficiently humanitarian? or must the laws force him to be so?  So we've come full circle and we're back to "law".  And ease.  Does the new law make it easier for the President to protect the USA?  Does the USA, with all her faults, deserve protecting?  Is the USA the very citizens it can lawfully kill, or is it bigger than that, or is it just the gang that protects my individual self from the other gangs at the gate who want my stuff, at least making sure I have enough oil this winter so my kids are warm.

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5. 36

   ZIa Ahmed khanposted 11 years ago

   This means America can kill anybody and anywhere in the world whom their President and Americans are afraid of. This is imaginary thing created just to kill people illegally, this is called extra judicial killings in civilized world, this is also called war crime unfortunately this is all theory, powerful never gets prosecuted for their crime.

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