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AG Eric Holder on Targeted Killings

By Jeralyn, Section War on Terror
Posted on Mon Mar 05, 2012 at 01:41:51 PM EST
Tags: targeted killings (all tags)
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At 4:30 pm ET, Attorney General Eric Holder will explain and attempt to legally justify the U.S. policy on targeted killings in a speech at Northwestern University in Chicago. He will also discuss the revamped military commission trials and successes of federal terror prosecutions.

Update: Prepared remarks here.

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    AG Eric Holder on Targeted Killings | 24 comments (24 topical)

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    uh... (5.00 / 5) (#1)
    by Mr Natural on Mon Mar 05, 2012 at 02:19:07 PM EST
    ... Я скучаю старые времена, когда правительство марионеток лгал о вопросах, мы не могли изменить

    Oops!  Sorry, I forgot I wasn't living in Stalinist Russia for a moment, where men were men and lies were lies and strained credibility demanded strained credulity..

    Wondering if any protestors will make it into (5.00 / 3) (#2)
    by oculus on Mon Mar 05, 2012 at 02:20:58 PM EST
    the venue.  Hoping.

    myself, i eagerly await the (5.00 / 2) (#3)
    by cpinva on Mon Mar 05, 2012 at 02:25:45 PM EST
    contortionist act by AG Holder, as he twists himself into a pretzel, while explaining how something patently illegal, is somehow, um, legal.

    "When the president does it..." (5.00 / 6) (#4)
    by Anne on Mon Mar 05, 2012 at 02:34:33 PM EST
    Well, you know how the rest of that one goes...

    I don't think he will contort at all - he'll just consolidate in one speech all the rationalizations we've become familiar with - rationalizations that are credible to them, and for which no shame, misgivings or discomfort have been expressed or telegraphed.  

    And he isn't planning on releasing the al-Awlawki memo, or even a summary of it, and isn't planning to take any questions after the speech.

    All hail the transparent and open administration, eh?


    Parent

    Why even give the speech? I doubt (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by oculus on Mon Mar 05, 2012 at 02:40:17 PM EST
    it will "shore up" the base.  

    Parent
    I"m sure the authoritarians will love it, (5.00 / 3) (#6)
    by Anne on Mon Mar 05, 2012 at 02:48:47 PM EST
    the GOP presidential wanna-bes will be drooling over the power that will await them when they eventually take back the WH - maybe not in 2012, but their time is coming - and the apologists will all swoon over how much safer this administration's keeping us - they will be the ones doing their best Snyder's Pretzel impression.

    And the evening's media coverage will be no more substantive than any 30 seconds on Inside Edition/Entertainment Tonight...as usual.

    Parent

    Holder kills me (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by Edger on Mon Mar 05, 2012 at 02:58:33 PM EST
    He's so consistent he knocks me dead....

    Here he is speaking on the Rule of Law at the 2008 American Constitution Society National Convention on the responsibility of Americans to preserve and protect our Constitution and reaffirm the principle of rule of law to its rightful, central place in society:

    "Our needlessly abusive and unlawful practices in the 'War on Terror' have diminished our standing in the world community and made us less, rather than more, safe," ... "For the sake of our safety and security, and because it is the right thing to do, the ... president must move immediately to reclaim America's standing in the world as a nation that cherishes and protects individual freedom and basic human rights."

    This guy is good! I wonder if him and Obama use the same speechwriters?

    I think a Men-in-Black-style mind eraser (5.00 / 4) (#8)
    by Anne on Mon Mar 05, 2012 at 03:06:11 PM EST
    would have been a better investment; some of us still remember the Democratic position pre-Obama.

    Makes the Dem/Obama supporters' situational pivot from vilifying Bush/Cheney to justifying and promoting and bragging about the continuation and extension of Bush policies that much more appalling.

    Parent

    I find that (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by Edger on Mon Mar 05, 2012 at 03:10:29 PM EST
    just whacking my forehead against the doorjamb every now and then helps a little to clear my mind...

    Parent
    Too painful, Edger, and besides, (5.00 / 2) (#12)
    by Anne on Mon Mar 05, 2012 at 03:24:53 PM EST
    I don't think ours are the foreheads that really need to get acquainted with the doorjamb... :-)

    Parent
    Good point! (none / 0) (#13)
    by Edger on Mon Mar 05, 2012 at 03:30:27 PM EST


    Parent
    At least they are finally sharing the supposed (5.00 / 2) (#10)
    by ruffian on Mon Mar 05, 2012 at 03:10:43 PM EST
    justification. Believe it or not, this is progress.

    Yoo (5.00 / 3) (#11)
    by Edger on Mon Mar 05, 2012 at 03:13:54 PM EST
    ain't seen nothing yet...

    Parent
    Agree (none / 0) (#24)
    by Militarytracy on Wed Mar 07, 2012 at 04:54:44 AM EST


    Parent
    If (5.00 / 1) (#14)
    by lentinel on Mon Mar 05, 2012 at 04:11:14 PM EST
    it was good enough for John Gotti....

    Gotti was an amateur at this stuff (none / 0) (#15)
    by Edger on Mon Mar 05, 2012 at 04:25:52 PM EST
    And obviously didn't have the connections or the pull to carry it off properly...

    Parent
    Makes me wonder. As a U.S. citizen who (5.00 / 1) (#18)
    by oculus on Tue Mar 06, 2012 at 12:33:21 AM EST
    resides in the U.S., it is safer to stay home or travel outside the U.S.?  

    Parent
    I don't know, but (5.00 / 1) (#19)
    by Edger on Tue Mar 06, 2012 at 01:34:28 AM EST
    they could be reading this thread you know.

    Maybe, like me, it would be judicious to be careful what you say in here so you don't get profiled? ;-)

    Parent

    Prepared Remarks (none / 0) (#16)
    by Edger on Mon Mar 05, 2012 at 05:55:50 PM EST
    Holder uses more words to say "pre-emptive sentencing" than I thought he would.

    I especially like his last paragraph, where he says...

    In the continuing effort to keep our people secure, this Administration will [someday] remain true to those values that inspired our nation's founding and, over the course of two centuries, have made America an example of strength and a beacon of justice for all the world.

    Keepin' that hope for change alive.

    He got this sentence right, too... (none / 0) (#17)
    by Edger on Mon Mar 05, 2012 at 05:57:25 PM EST
    The unfortunate reality is that our nation will likely continue to face terrorist threats that - at times - originate with our own citizens.


    Parent
    in a sense, he's right. (5.00 / 1) (#20)
    by cpinva on Tue Mar 06, 2012 at 08:05:36 AM EST
    we have become our own worst enemy.

    Parent
    So none of the commenters are voting for Obama? (none / 0) (#21)
    by BobTinKY on Tue Mar 06, 2012 at 08:09:54 AM EST


    Voting for WHO? (none / 0) (#22)
    by Edger on Tue Mar 06, 2012 at 10:02:14 AM EST


    Parent
    Are Holder, Obama et al living in Bizarro World w/ (none / 0) (#23)
    by jawbone on Tue Mar 06, 2012 at 03:21:25 PM EST
    Bush the Younger and Cheney et al?

    Sure seems like -- and they've taken Bush/Cheney tactics several degrees further toward out and out tyranny.

    How can anyone vote for Obama? Plus, how can anyone vote for the wackos running on the R side?

    Oh, I would like a political party which supports the Constitution and the views of people like, oh, the 60+ percent that wanted single payer, something like Medicare for All, etc., etc. Something like the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party....

    AG Eric Holder on Targeted Killings | 24 comments (24 topical)

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