By Frank Whalen
Around the world, 2011 was a banner year of upheaval for established governmental authority. To some, this explains why the U.S. government is increasingly seeking tools to suppress dissent among the populace, lest that dissent lead to revolution.
It’s a worrisome trend that runs parallel to new detention powers mandated under the recently enacted National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Washington elites claim they have the power to order assassinations of Americans without ever putting them on trial.
As far as the procedure is concerned, Reuters reports that, according to officials, targeted individuals “are placed on a kill or capture list by a secretive panel of senior government officials, which then informs the president of its decisions.”
Reuters states that the official justification for this is that “the actions were permitted by Congress when it authorized the use of military force against militants in the wake of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.”
Under these broad rules, then, even the most tenuous connection to a person or ideology deemed dangerous by the U.S. government could make someone a target for murder by the government.
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