What's New Robert L. Park 13 Oct 2011

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L.  Park   Thursday, 13 Oct 2011   Washington, DC

1. THE CONTRACT: AWLAKI=92S U.S.CITIZENSHIP IS REVOKED. =20
Last week you will recall, American-born Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Musli=
m=20
cleric hiding in Yemen, had his U.S. citizenship permanently revoked by a=
=20
CIA drone strike.  But had Awlaki been accorded =93due process=94 as guar=
anteed=20
by the Constitution?  =93War is due process,=94 I wrote.  Bad mistake!  W=
e are=20
not at war with Yemen.  Angry readers, many of them old friends, objected=
=20
to what they saw as my support for an illegal action of the administratio=
n,=20
and threatened to unsubscribe to WN.  It=92s not like I get paid to do th=
is,=20
but they were right.  A part of me had enjoyed too much the adrenalin rus=
h=20
that comes when your team scores a goal, even if it=92s against an inferi=
or=20
opponent.  Awlaki was an instigator not a fighter; his offences were=20
deplorable and illegal, but not capital.  To me the most troubling aspect=
=20
of the whole affair was how good the U.S. is at this assassin stuff. =20
Satellite images tracked the target. A drone waited for the order to laun=
ch=20
its missile. It was not just a lucky shot.  We have the power to take out=
=20
anyone on Earth.  I hope we don=92t.  But if we do, would someone please =
take=20
a look at my list?

2. THE SECRET: DEMOCRACY IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH SECRECY.
We are told that a Justice Department memorandum, drawn up by a couple of=
=20
Justice Department lawyers following months of interagency deliberations,=
=20
sanctioned the Awlaki hit in spite of an executive order banning=20
assassinations, a federal law against murder, protection under the Bill o=
f=20
Rights, and numerous international agreements.   Charlie Savage, writing =
in=20
the NY Times, says the legal debate =93led to one of the most significant=
=20
decisions made by President Obama - to move ahead with the killing of an=20
American citizen without a trial.=94 Then why is the memorandum classifie=
d as=20
secret?   This is bull shit =96 the President=92s decision led to the mem=
o, not=20
the other way around.=20

3. THE MARTYR: GIVING THE DARWIN AWARD A WHOLE NEW MEANING.
Two years ago on board a Northwest Airlines flight en route to Detroit,=20
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly attempted to detonate plastic=20
explosives hidden in his underwear. The flight from Amsterdam was just=20
moments from landing when Abdulmutallab tried to detonate the bomb in his=
=20
pants. It failed to go off, but his pants caught fire.  Passengers jumped=
=20
him when they saw smoke and flames.  At a hospital after landing=20
Abdulmutallab was treated for burns to his uh, groin.  Yesterday, in a=20
Federal Court in Detroit, Abdulmutallab pleaded guilty in the attempted=20
murder of 289 fellow passengers. He said he targeted the U.S.-bound fligh=
t=20
at the urging of Anwar al-Awlaki.    The episode will no doubt be=20
immortalized in a new volume of the brilliant =93Darwin Awards,=94 create=
d by=20
Wendy Northcutt, that =93commemorates individuals who improve our gene po=
ol=20
by removing themselves from it=94, or in this case, removes their gene-
delivery device, from it.             =20

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.
Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
University of Maryland, but they should be.
---
Archives of What's New can be found at http://www.bobpark.org
What's New is moving to a different listserver and our
subscription process has changed. To change your subscription
status please visit this link:
http://listserv.umd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=3Dbobparks-whatsnew&A=3D1