Thursday, May 23, 2013

So There's This Big Scandal

You may have heard of it. Not the one where the IRS is required to determine whether organizations applying for special tax status are engaged in political activity. Not the one where the conservative groups that were passed to specialists for a closer look made up only one third of the total number that were more closely examined. Not the one where the applications for special tax status were sent for a closer look to see if they were engaged in political activity that would disqualify them for the special tax status. Not the one where none of the groups that applied for special tax status were harmed. Not the one where the only groups that were denied special tax status were progressive and not conservative.

No, this is one that our congresswoman, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and the rest of Congress are not trying to make political hay with. It's the one where the President can kill you without providing any evidence of your actions and intents to anyone.

Rather, it means that the government must take special care and take into account all relevant constitutional considerations, the laws of war, and other law with respect to U.S. citizens- even those who are leading efforts to kill their fellow, innocent Americans. Such considerations allow for the use of lethal force in a foreign country against a U.S. citizen who is a senior operational leader of alQa'ida or its associated forces, and who is actively engaged in planning to kill Americans, in the following circumstances: (1) the U.S. government has determined, after a thorough and careful review, that the individual poses an imminent threat of violent attack against the United States; (2) capture is not feasible; and (3) the operation would be conducted in a manner consistent with applicable law of war principles.

But at least we're taking special care and remaining consistent with the law of war principles, such as they are.

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