High school student sends letter to Obama over drone assassinations

From:  We Are 1776

Alec Scheer February 7, 2013

 

President Obama,

It is my understanding, throughout the duration of your Presidency, that you have persistently authorized drone strikes on innocent Middle Eastern civilians who were supposedly working for, or somehow affiliated with Al-Qaeda. As a further matter, you have gone so far as to publicly announce – in accordance to your Administration’s white paper concerning the legalities and justifications concerning your drone policy, which was leaked to NBC – that you have the authority to drone bomb any American citizen.

The Hill wrote, “In the document, the Justice Department concludes that a lethal strike against a senior operational leader of al Qaeda — or an affiliated terrorist group — can occur if a three-part test is met: that a high-level American intelligence official has determined the individual poses an imminent threat, that capture is infeasible, and that the strike is conducted according to the laws of war governing use of force.”

The key phrase here is:

“Or an affiliated terrorist group.”

This is chilling. It is jaw-dropping, rather. Why? It’s simple. According to multiple documents – such as the FBI’s “Project Megiddo” document from the late 1990’s and the FBI’s and BJA’s “Communities Against Terrorism” documents – we, the American people, are considered “an affiliated terrorist group.” 

It is also interesting to note the hypocrisy which you have entangled yourself in. You have made it clear, upon the reauthorization of the NDAA with Sections 1021 and 1022 on December 31, 2011, with this leaked white paper concerning drone bombings, and with your countless public appearances regarding terrorism, that anyone who is affiliated – or somehow deemed a terrorist – shall be denied their Constitutional rights. However, have you ever noticed the glowing hypocrisy here? Your administration has openly aided the Al-Qaeda rebels in Syria (Reuters, Daily Mail, etc.) firearms.

Aren’t these the very people you’re against? Aren’t these the very people by which you have used to justify the killings of countless innocent civilians?

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