Well.
That record, and Mr. Awlaki’s calls for more attacks, presented Mr. Obama with an urgent question: Could he order the targeted killing of an American citizen, in a country with which the United States was not at war, in secret and without the benefit of a trial?
The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel prepared a lengthy memo justifying that extraordinary step, asserting that while the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of due process applied, it could be satisfied by internal deliberations in the executive branch.
Mr. Obama gave his approval, and Mr. Awlaki was killed in September 2011, along with a fellow propagandist, Samir Khan, an American citizen who was not on the target list but was traveling with him.
If the president had qualms about this momentous step, aides said he did not share them. Mr. Obama focused instead on the weight of the evidence showing that the cleric had joined the enemy and was plotting more terrorist attacks.
“This is an easy one,” Mr. Daley recalled him saying, though the president warned that in future cases, the evidence might well not be so clear.
― go down on you in a thyatrr (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 11:59 (twelve years ago) link
sounds like due process to me!
such a fucking pig.
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 14:19 (twelve years ago) link
and this:
In the wake of Mr. Awlaki’s death, some administration officials, including the attorney general, argued that the Justice Department’s legal memo should be made public. In 2009, after all, Mr. Obama had released Bush administration legal opinions on interrogation over the vociferous objections of six former C.I.A. directors.
This time, contemplating his own secrets, he chose to keep the Awlaki opinion secret.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 29 May 2012 15:23 (twelve years ago) link
Standing before the Constitution at the National Archives in Washington, he mentioned Guantánamo 28 times, repeating his campaign pledge to close the prison.
But it was too late, and his defensive tone suggested that Mr. Obama knew it. Though President George W. Bush and Senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican candidate, had supported closing the Guantánamo prison, Republicans in Congress had reversed course and discovered they could use the issue to portray Mr. Obama as soft on terrorism.
Walking out of the Archives, the president turned to his national security adviser at the time, Gen. James L. Jones, and admitted that he had never devised a plan to persuade Congress to shut down the prison.
“We’re never going to make that mistake again,” Mr. Obama told the retired Marine general.
― Mad God 40/40 (Z S), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 15:24 (twelve years ago) link
Greenwald probably jerked off on his keyboard.
― go down on you in a thyatrr (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 15:26 (twelve years ago) link
You seem to be assuming that he cares more about being right about this bastard than angry about what lousy leaders we have. How clever.
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 15:39 (twelve years ago) link
tbf, show me any human being who cares about anything as much as he cares about being right
― Mordy, Tuesday, 29 May 2012 15:47 (twelve years ago) link
Bam caring about re-election
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 15:55 (twelve years ago) link
nice strawman for discrediting his critiques tho, hi5
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 15:56 (twelve years ago) link
GG dissects, Part I (quoting the NYT) -- it's the New 'You Can Tell They're Vietcong Cuz They're Dead':
Mr. Obama embraced a disputed method for counting civilian casualties that did little to box him in. It in effect counts all military-age males in a strike zone as combatants, according to several administration officials, unless there is explicit intelligence posthumously proving them innocent....
The C.I.A. accounting has so troubled some administration officials outside the agency that they have brought their concerns to the White House. One called it “guilt by association” that has led to “deceptive” estimates of civilian casualties.
“It bothers me when they say there were seven guys, so they must all be militants,” the official said. “They count the corpses and they’re not really sure who they are.”
http://www.salon.com/2012/05/29/militants_media_propaganda/singleton/
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 16:10 (twelve years ago) link
ok I know you're not talking to me
― go down on you in a thyatrr (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 16:20 (twelve years ago) link
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, May 29, 2012 3:56 PM (57 minutes ago) Bookmark
lol this from Morbz
― Fas Ro Duh (Gukbe), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 16:56 (twelve years ago) link
this is all awful, btw, but can't see it changing no matter how gets into office. there will be those that are shocked, but I think a lot americans are pretty cool with all of this.
― Fas Ro Duh (Gukbe), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 16:58 (twelve years ago) link
how=who
― Fas Ro Duh (Gukbe), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 16:59 (twelve years ago) link
most Americans are definitely pretty cool with it. because they are illiterate amoral savages.
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:01 (twelve years ago) link
anybody questions anything about this and someone will throw up video of a soldier skyping with this 4 year old daughter and then an american flag waving and they'll start crying and will buy a taco
― Fas Ro Duh (Gukbe), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:03 (twelve years ago) link
I do see changing. I see it getting worse with every administration.
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:04 (twelve years ago) link
ie, Obama's fucking worse than Bush. Say it. You'll feel free.
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:05 (twelve years ago) link
i agree
― Fas Ro Duh (Gukbe), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:06 (twelve years ago) link
but it doesn't really matter
and if you're nice about it Morbs'll give ya a cookie
― go down on you in a thyatrr (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:07 (twelve years ago) link
lol that isn't true at all
xp
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:07 (twelve years ago) link
the meme taking hold on the right is that Obama a) is so scared of looking like a screwup w/r/t terrorism and b) tied his own hands by moral preening over torture/gitmo, that he is killing everybody he can in tyrannical fashion instead of capturing them.
i think a) has a ring of truth to it
― goole, Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:07 (twelve years ago) link
Obama's ending Bush's wars and hasn't started any new ones iirc
well there's yemen. and lybia.
― goole, Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:08 (twelve years ago) link
er libya
like I'm all against targeted assassinations and this ridiculous drone program etc but let's not even pretend that they're on the scale (either in terms of people killed or economic costs or resulting political instability or any metric really) of invading Iraq and Afghanistan.
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:08 (twelve years ago) link
yeah Libya what a disaster, with our zero troops committed and goals accomplished with minimal expense and whatnot
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:09 (twelve years ago) link
haven't invaded Yemen iirc
"ending"
Can TGWOT be over by the time I go to the airport next month, Shakey?
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:09 (twelve years ago) link
(a) is the gist of the officials quoted in the NYT
― go down on you in a thyatrr (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:10 (twelve years ago) link
TGWOT was a PR exercise that's already over since nobody mentions it anymore
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:10 (twelve years ago) link
goals accomplished with minimal expense
srsly, you need to become a savage full-fledged O-bot.
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:10 (twelve years ago) link
lol Morbz thinks we're going to be in Afghanistan past Obama's re-election in 2014. or do you think we're still at war in Iraq too
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:11 (twelve years ago) link
I don't think this matters because the people will be behind it always, but I would like to see it have more prominence in the national conversation - or even just the more mainstream lefty one. Bill Maher's New Rules/Rant thing last week was decent in that it was all about the way in which Obama is basically a Republican and that it's the Progressives who should be angry about him, not the tea party/ted nugent, but I don't think he mentioned the war aspect at all (though last week they did have that reporter on there who's whole steez is the Greenwald/Morbz/we're using drones line).
― Fas Ro Duh (Gukbe), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:11 (twelve years ago) link
I am not a savage full-fledged O-bot but dude there is a difference in scale between destroying the entire economy and killing tens of thousands of people and keepign the economy puttering along and killing a few thousand people. that is math. welcome to it.
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:12 (twelve years ago) link
TGWOT was a PR exercise that's already over
I think those 6 future child terrorists we blew up this weekend prrrrrrrrrrobably would disagree.
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:12 (twelve years ago) link
that sounds like Jeremy Scahill, Gukbe
― go down on you in a thyatrr (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:12 (twelve years ago) link
I know it's hard to maintain that permanent state of ever-escalating hysteria but sticking to facts is harder, I guess
Gukbe, the Jack Ripper aspect of O's governance is the part Maher's OK with.
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:13 (twelve years ago) link
pretty sure they wouldn't call it the TWGOT since they wouldn't know/care/be aware of Dubya's preferred nomenclature - they would just call it standard US foreign policy
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:13 (twelve years ago) link
"Jack Ripper" is probably hysterical, let's stick to "Colonel Kilgore"
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:14 (twelve years ago) link
I know that Maher's a disgusting hawk on this shit, but I guess I'm using him as a lame figurehead for leftist mainstream media talking points.
It was him, cheers Alfred xpost
― Fas Ro Duh (Gukbe), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:14 (twelve years ago) link
Bill Maher is not a leftist
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:15 (twelve years ago) link
he is in the larger American conversation
― Fas Ro Duh (Gukbe), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:16 (twelve years ago) link
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, May 29, 2012 12:12 PM (1 minute ago)
Oh, but you had me at "the inconvenience at the airport is going to be such a pain!"
― Trey Imaginary Songz (WmC), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:17 (twelve years ago) link
I try to have a wide-ranging list of complaints, WmC, it's populist
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:18 (twelve years ago) link
I don't think event his is true. dude is closer to libertarian/Ron Paul axis
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:19 (twelve years ago) link
B.M. gave a million dollars to Obama 2012 a few weeks back
― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:20 (twelve years ago) link
lol I didn't know Maher was a PETA board member
that may explain why they kill all those animals
― that is a weird thing to bring up over lean cuisine (DJP), Tuesday, 29 May 2012 17:21 (twelve years ago) link