Assassination

It has been acknowledged by the Obama administration that current policy permits the assassination of any suspect anywhere in the world, including an American citizen.[1] This, they argue, is to keep all Americans safe. Somewhere along the way we forgot that the enemies of our Constitution are both foreign and domestic. It appears that many people in government want us to believe that the greater danger is coming from people like the underwear bomber rather than from our own government.

In the paragraphs prior, Ron Paul clarified that this practice, along with indefinite detention, torture, secret prisons, and more, were just as much the "current policy" of the Bush administration as the Obama administration. The problem lies deeper:

The justification for such abuse of the rule of law is all based on concocted fear by false claims associated with a lack of respect and understanding of what liberty is all about. It is constantly argued that danger in this post–9/11 period demands a different code of conduct to assure the people's safety. Possibly so. But it is further argued that only a few Americans are on the target list for assassination.

Possibly so. But so what? Tyranny always begins with oppression of unpopular minorities. If we wait for tyranny to target the mainstream and the majority, it will be too late.

Other points he brings up in this chapter:

• Committee meetings with the Director of National Intelligence David Blair regarding what it takes to be declared an "enemy combatant".
• The flaw of some conservatives' view that being against torture and assassination is "wimpy".
• Explanations of how fear has been hyped since 9/11 to enable monstrous losses of liberty, as with the Patriot Act.
• The silliness of declaring war on the tactic of terrorism and cavalierly declaring the whole world a battlefield.
• Finer points that deserve a full reading of the book.