US intelligence chief claims right to assassinate Americans overseas

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US intelligence chief claims right to assassinate Americans overseas
By Joe Kishore
5 February 2010

US Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair said on Wednesday
that government agencies have a policy of assassinating Americans
overseas as required by the “war on terror.”

In testimony before the House intelligence committee, Blair said the
assassinations would be justified if US citizens were “taking action
that threatens Americans.” This is an extremely broad category, giving
the US intelligence apparatus general authority to engage in what
amount to extra-judicial executions.

Such killings are illegal under international law, but they have
become standard procedure for the American military and intelligence
agencies, under the euphemism of “targeted killings.” They are now
common as part of the full-scale military occupations in Iraq and
Afghanistan, as well as in other countries targeted by the US,
including Pakistan and Yemen.

The question of killing Americans has come up specifically in relation
to the US-born Yemeni cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, who has been linked by
the US government to the suspect in the attempt to blow up Northwest
Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day. On December 24, the US launched
strikes on an Al Qaeda compound in Yemen, and it was initially thought
that al-Awlaki may have been among those killed.

Al-Awlaki has not been charged with any crimes. CNN reported, however,
“Privately many administration officials said he is one of the next
American citizens abroad with whom the US intelligence community wants
to deal.” CNN did not say who else was on the list of citizens to be
“dealt with.”

The US follows “a set of defined policy and legal procedures that are
very carefully observed,” Blair claimed. He also said that the US
intelligence agencies seek “specific permission”—presumably from the
White House, though Blair was not explicit—to carry out actions that
will involve killing US citizens.

Peter Hoekstra, the ranking Republican on the intelligence committee,
said he was “surprised” that Blair had made the statement in open
session. “So there is a framework and a policy…a clear path as to when
this person may be engaging in free speech overseas and when he may
have moved into recruitment or when he may have moved into actually
coordinating and carrying out attacks against the United States?” he
asked.

Blair responded by saying that he preferred to go into the details in
“closed session,” but added, “We don’t target people for free speech.”

That the head of US intelligence had to assure the population that the
government does not kill US citizens on the basis of their political
views and opinions only underscores the far-reaching criminalization
of the state.

The Obama administration is continuing, and in many cases deepening,
the attack on democratic and constitutional rights implemented by
Bush. During the Bush administration, the question of warrantless
monitoring of communications involving US citizens provoked a storm of
controversy. Now, the US government openly asserts the right to kill
US citizens abroad without protest from either political party.

Blair’s comments were given amidst escalating warnings from US
intelligence about imminent terrorist attacks. Blair said that an
attempted attack in the US within the next three to six months was
“certain,” echoing comments made by CIA Director Leon Panetta on Tuesday.

“We have been warning in the past several years that al Qaeda itself
and its associated affiliates and al Qaeda-inspired terrorists remain
committed to striking the United States,” Blair said, “and in the past
year we have some names that go behind these warnings.”

In the midst of these warnings, it is remarkable that not a single
congressman questioned Blair or Panetta on reports that US
intelligence agencies intervened to block the revocation of the visa
of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the man who attempted to blow up
Northwest Flight 253.

There has been a systematic blackout by the media and the political
establishment of congressional testimony by State Department official
Patrick Kennedy since the publication by the Detroit News of an
article last week under the headline, “Terror Suspect Kept Visa to
Avoid Tipping off Larger Investigation.”

The News reported, “Patrick F. Kennedy, an undersecretary for
management at the State Department, said Abdulmutallab’s visa wasn’t
taken away because intelligence officials asked his agency not to deny
a visa to the suspected terrorist over concerns that a denial would’ve
foiled a larger investigation into al-Qaida threats against the United
States.”

The intelligence agency in question was the National Counter Terrorism
Center, which operates under the direction of the Director of National
Intelligence—Dennis Blair.

The warnings from these same intelligence agencies of an imminent
attack have an ominous character. Under the Bush administration, the
government regularly manipulated warnings and threat assessments for
political reasons—to justify unpopular policies, influence elections,
or distract attention from embarrassing revelations. These warnings
generally had very little basis in reality.

At the same time, any successful terrorist attack—whether or not it is
facilitated by US intelligence agencies—will be seized on as a pretext
for a further escalation of war and attack on democratic rights.

http://wsws.org/articles/2010/feb2010/blai-f05.shtml

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