Even Under Obama, No End to 'Execution without Trial'
"Since
Obama took office, U.S. drones have killed more people than ever, including
more innocent civilians - particularly in Pakistan. What does this say about this
U.S. president?"
Last summer saw Barack Obama's
new C.I.A. director Leon Panetta make headlines when he publicly expressed outrage
over the top-secret plans of his predecessor to use assassination squads against
presumed U.S. enemies. Panetta let it be known that he stopped the program as
soon as he learned of it. Washington took heed: Would Obama now put chains on
the secret service after he forbid torture, ordered the closure of Guantánamo
Bay and took the misnomer "war on terror" off the table?
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
We
know now that the new U.S. president also stands on something of a middle ground
when it comes to hunting suspected terrorists. Some excesses have been
rectified, but other programs have been sustained, including hit lists that are
kept by the military and secret service. Apparently, the Obama Administration
now even has approved a U.S. citizen for termination: radical preacher and
alleged al-Qaeda operative, Anwar al-Awlaki (photo,
left).
According to former officials
who ought to know, not even under George W. Bush was an American approved for a
targeted killing. The C.I.A. isn't allowed to target Al-Awlaki, who is hiding
out in Yemen. But not with a risky command operation on the ground, which
Panetta abolished. Today, it must be done with rockets from the air. Since
Obama took office, U.S. drones have killed more people than ever, including
more innocent civilians - particularly in Pakistan.
What does this say about this U.S. president? It says that
allegations by American hard-liners to the effect that he is a naive wimp are
absurd. Unfortunately, it also says that Obama is far from fulfilling all of the
hopes placed in him by human rights activists.
