Susanne Posel
Attorney General Eric Holder was brought before the Senate Judiciary Committee to answer for the letter he wrote to Senator Rand Paul concerning the Obama administration’s legal right to use drones to kill American citizens on US soil.
Paul went before the Senate to filibuster John Brennan’s nomination for director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), saying: “I will speak until I can no longer speak. I will speak as long as it takes until the alarm is sounded coast to coast that our Constitution is important, that your rights to trial by jury are precious, that no American should be killed by a drone on American soil without first being charged with a crime, without first being found to be guilty by a court. I will speak today until the president responds.”
In support of Paul, a petition has begun on WeThePeople.gov entitled, “Respond to Senator Rand Paul on Drone Strikes!” The petition, addressed to Obama, reads: “We the people request that you respond to Senator Rand Paul and the citizens of America on the issue of drone strikes on US soil with the potential to kill US citizens without a trial. We request that you respect our freedoms and our rights as US citizens. Mr. President, as our elected leader, you are accountable to the people and so we ask that you address this important issue.”
At the time this article was published 1,999 of the 98,001 signatures needed were provided by concerned US citizens.
Regarding Obama’s answers to Paul about the right to murder Americans with “lethal force” such as drones, it was relayed that: “When I asked the president, can you kill an American on American soil, it should have been an easy answer. It’s an easy question. It should have been a resounding and unequivocal, ‘no.’ the president’s response? He hasn’t killed anyone yet. We’re supposed to be comforted by that. The president says I haven’t killed anyone yet. He goes on to say, and I have no intention of killing Americans. But i might. Is that enough? Are we satisfied by that? Are we so complacent with our rights that we would allow a president to say he might kill Americans? But he will judge the circumstances, he will be the sole arbiter, he will be the sole decider, he will be the executioner in chief if he sees fit. Now, some would say he would never do this. Many people give the president the — you know, they give him consideration; they say he’s a good man. I’m not arguing he’s not. What I’m arguing is that the law is there and set in place for the day when angels don’t rule government.”
Paul said that he would continue to vocally stand against Brennan’s nomination until the Obama administration confirmed that they would not use drones to kill Americans here in the US.
Senator Ted Cruz questioned Holder about the letter to Paul until Holder admitted that it would not be Constitutional for American citizens to be murdered by a presidential administration without due process.
Earlier this week, Holder wrote a letter to Paul that states: “It is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution and applicable laws of the United States for the President to authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory of the United States.”
Holder explained to Paul that it is legal for US citizens to be murdered in a drone strike on American soil.
To answer Paul’s question of whether Obama “has the power to authorize lethal force, such as a drone strike, against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil and without trial”; Holder went on to assert that Obama “has the power to authorize lethal force, such as a drone strike, against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, and without trial.”
Holder went on to say: “[The Obama administration] reject the use of military force where well-established law enforcement authorities in this country provide the best means for incapacitating a terrorist threat. The question you have posed is therefore entirely hypothetical, unlikely to occur, and one we hope no President will ever have to confront.”
However, Holder does acknowledge that “it is possible; I suppose to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution and applicable laws of the United States for the President to authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory of the United States.”
Holder postulated that “the President could conceivably have no choice but to authorize the military to use such force if necessary to protect the homeland in the circumstances of a catastrophic attack. Were such an emergency to arise, I would examine the particular facts and circumstances before advising the President on the scope of this authority.”
In February, Brennan, once affectionately called Assassination Czar for his role in targeted assassinations with the use of drones for the Obama administration, has defended the policy by saying that Americans misinterpret that the US government “take[s] strikes to punish terrorists for past transgressions. Nothing could be further from the truth. We only take such action as a last resort to save lives when there’s no other alternative” to avert a threat to the nation.”
At the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Brennan was all but given approval with Senator Dianne Feinstein saying that he is “a fine and strong leader.”
Protesters appeared at the hearing to voice their disdain for Brennan, yet he continued to spout that Americans “really have a misunderstanding of what we do as a government, and the care that we take, and the agony that we go through” to ensure that innocent bystanders or civilians aren’t hit in targeted killings. “People are reacting to a lot of falsehoods that are out there.”
Brennan assured the Committee that if a person were killed “by mistake” during a targeted assassination, the Obama administration would acknowledge that fact immediately and publically.
Claiming “optimize[d] transparency” with regard to targeted assassinations, Brennan claimed that it is always carried out in the name of national security.
During Obama’s first term as President, Brennan held the position of Chief Counter-Terrorism adviser. While 4 Americans have been murdered by the targeted assassination program (one intentional and three claimed to be accidental), Brennan failed to given transparency to the Committee about the program by neglecting to define by what criteria an individual is placed on the secret kill-list.
Brennan worked for the CIA in Saudi Arabia and has established “enormous sway over the intelligence community.” His work with the Saudi Arabian government for the approval of drones in their skies has led to the murder of many individuals that were “identified” as al-Qaeda operatives.
Susanne Posel’s Website is Occupy Corporatism
Americans should be appreciative for Senators such as Rand Paul. He and Father, Ron, should be elected officials into the White House, as a team. I cannot take the credit for this thought, as it was presented to me, by my close relative. For 24 hours, I have contemplated this thought. Americans were swayed by the mainstream media and elected who is in the Presidency, now. Ron Paul should have been elected President and Rand Paul, Vice President, for when his Father would no longer hold the office. Our Country would get back on track…..