Can Obama Assassinate Americans? | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary

Can Obama Assassinate Americans? | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Obama, our commander in chief, who, as I've previously reported, has authorized in his first year more such assassinations than Bush and Cheney in their last years. The result, as the Washington Post noted, 'has been dozens of targeted killings and no reports of high-value detentions.'

After all, there can be no fierce arguments about whether a charred corpse should be tried in a federal civilian court or by a military commission."

"And 'if we think that direct action will involve killing an American, we get specific permission to do that.'

Glenn Greenwald, a former constitutional lawyer turned news analyst, avoids euphemisms. 'Special permissions' without judicial authorization, says Greenwald, amounts to 'basically giving the president the power to impose death sentences on his own citizens without any charges or trial'"

"While there is little doubt that a U.S. citizen fighting for an enemy army could lawfully be killed on the battlefield in the course of fighting, this policy goes far beyond the ordinary parameters of battlefield combat."