Re: Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will

you've had it too easy

RICH GIRL

you're suppose to like guys, remember



On 5/29/12, OccupySpring <soprano.olivia07@gmail.com> wrote:
> You kiss him, he has cooties!
>
> On May 29, 5:40 pm, EARL DOYLE <lesjul...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> yes, he's a college snot, whoop his ass good
>>
>> imitate his style
>>
>> beat him at his own game of being vague
>>
>> On 5/29/12, OccupySpring <soprano.olivi...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> > Lynn hates me, should I care? :o)
>>
>> > On May 29, 5:12 pm, EARL DOYLE <lesjul...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> A few sharp-eyed observers inside and outside the government
>> >> understood what the public did not. Without showing his hand, Mr.
>> >> Obama had preserved three major policies — rendition, military
>> >> commissions and indefinite detention — that have been targets of human
>> >> rights groups since the 2001 terrorist attacks.
>>
>> >> But a year later, with Congress trying to force him to try all
>> >> terrorism suspects using revamped military commissions, he deployed
>> >> his legal skills differently — to preserve trials in civilian courts.
>>
>> >> The president "seems to think that if he gives terrorists the rights
>> >> of Americans, lets them lawyer up and reads them their Miranda rights,
>> >> we won't be at war," former Vice President Dick Cheney charged
>>
>> >> F.B.I. agents had questioned Mr. Abdulmutallab for 50 minutes and
>> >> gained valuable intelligence before giving him the warning. They had
>> >> relied on a 1984 case called New York v. Quarles, in which the Supreme
>> >> Court ruled that statements made by a suspect in response to urgent
>> >> public safety questions — the case involved the location of a gun —
>> >> could be introduced into evidence even if the suspect had not been
>> >> advised of the right to remain silent.
>>
>> >> That same mind-set would be brought to bear as the president
>> >> intensified what would become a withering campaign to use unmanned
>> >> aircraft to kill Qaeda terrorists.
>>
>> >> It is also because Mr. Obama embraced a disputed method for counting
>> >> civilian casualties that did little to box him in. It in effect counts
>> >> all military-age males in a strike zone as combatants, according to
>> >> several administration officials, unless there is explicit
>> >> intelligence posthumously proving them innocent.
>>
>> >> Counterterrorism officials insist this approach is one of simple
>> >> logic: people in an area of known terrorist activity, or found with a
>> >> top Qaeda operative, are probably up to no good. "Al Qaeda is an
>> >> insular, paranoid organization — innocent neighbors don't hitchhike
>> >> rides in the back of trucks headed for the border with guns and
>> >> bombs," said one official, who requested anonymity to speak about what
>> >> is still a classified program.
>>
>> >> This counting method may partly explain the official claims of
>> >> extraordinarily low collateral deaths. In a speech last year Mr.
>> >> Brennan, Mr. Obama's trusted adviser, said that not a single
>> >> noncombatant had been killed in a year of strikes. And in a recent
>> >> interview, a senior administration official said that the number of
>> >> civilians killed in drone strikes in Pakistan under Mr. Obama was in
>> >> the "single digits" — and that independent counts of scores or
>> >> hundreds of civilian deaths unwittingly draw on false propaganda
>> >> claims by militants.
>>
>> >> But in interviews, three former senior intelligence officials
>> >> expressed disbelief that the number could be so low. The C.I.A.
>> >> accounting has so troubled some administration officials outside the
>> >> agency that they have brought their concerns to the White House. One
>> >> called it "guilt by association" that has led to "deceptive" estimates
>> >> of civilian casualties.
>>
>> >> It was not only Mr. Obama's distaste for legislative backslapping and
>> >> arm-twisting, but also part of a deeper pattern, said an
>> >> administration official who has watched him closely: the president
>> >> seemed to have "a sense that if he sketches a vision, it will happen —
>> >> without his really having thought through the mechanism by which it
>> >> will happen."
>>
>> >> Asked what surprised him most about Mr. Obama, Mr. Donilon, the
>> >> national security adviser, answered immediately: "He's a president who
>> >> is quite comfortable with the use of force on behalf of the United
>> >> States."
>>
>> >> On 5/29/12, Leader of 71 <lesjul...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> >> > [image: The New York Times] <http://www.nytimes.com/>
>> >> > <http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&opzn&page=www...>
>>
>> >> > ------------------------------
>> >> > May 29, 2012
>> >> > Secret 'Kill List' Proves a Test of Obama's Principles and WillBy JO
>> >> > BECKER<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/jo_becke...>
>> >> > and SCOTT
>> >> > SHANE<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/scott_sh...>
>>
>> >> > WASHINGTON — This was the enemy, served up in the latest chart from
>> >> > the
>> >> > intelligence agencies: 15 Qaeda suspects in Yemen with Western ties.
>> >> > The
>> >> > mug shots and brief biographies resembled a high school yearbook
>> >> > layout.
>> >> > Several were Americans. Two were teenagers, including a girl who
>> >> > looked
>> >> > even younger than her 17 years.
>>
>> >> > President
>> >> > Obama<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_o...>,
>>
>> >> > overseeing the regular Tuesday counterterrorism meeting of two dozen
>> >> > security officials in the White House Situation Room, took a moment
>> >> > to
>> >> > study the faces. It was Jan. 19, 2010, the end of a first year in
>> >> > office
>> >> > punctuated by terrorist plots and culminating in a brush with
>> >> > catastrophe
>> >> > over Detroit on Christmas Day, a reminder that a successful attack
>> >> > could
>> >> > derail his presidency. Yet he faced adversaries without uniforms,
>> >> > often
>> >> > indistinguishable from the civilians around them.
>>
>> >> > "How old are these people?" he asked, according to two officials
>> >> > present.
>> >> > "If they are starting to use children," he said of Al
>> >> > Qaeda<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/a...>,
>>
>> >> > "we are moving into a whole different phase."
>>
>> >> > It was not a theoretical question: Mr. Obama has placed himself at
>> >> > the
>> >> > helm
>>
>> >> > of a top secret "nominations" process to designate terrorists for
>> >> > kill
>> >> > or
>> >> > capture, of which the capture part has become largely theoretical.
>> >> > He
>> >> > had
>> >> > vowed to align the fight against Al Qaeda with American values; the
>> >> > chart,
>> >> > introducing people whose deaths he might soon be asked to order,
>> >> > underscored just what a moral and legal conundrum this could be.
>>
>> >> > Mr. Obama is the liberal law professor who campaigned against the
>> >> > Iraq
>> >> > war
>> >> > and torture, and then insisted on approving every new name on an
>> >> > expanding
>> >> > "kill list," poring over terrorist suspects' biographies on what one
>> >> > official calls the macabre "baseball cards" of an unconventional
>> >> > war.
>> >> > When
>> >> > a rare opportunity for a
>> >> > drone<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/u/unmann...>
>> >> > strike
>> >> > at a top terrorist arises — but his family is with him — it is the
>> >> > president who has reserved to himself the final moral calculation.
>>
>> >> > "He is determined that he will make these decisions about how far
>> >> > and
>> >> > wide
>> >> > these operations will go," said Thomas E. Donilon, his national
>> >> > security
>> >> > adviser. "His view is that he's responsible for the position of the
>> >> > United
>> >> > States in the world." He added, "He's determined to keep the tether
>> >> > pretty
>> >> > short."
>>
>> >> > Nothing else in Mr. Obama's first term has baffled liberal
>> >> > supporters
>> >> > and
>> >> > confounded conservative critics alike as his aggressive
>> >> > counterterrorism
>> >> > record. His actions have often remained inscrutable, obscured by
>> >> > awkward
>> >> > secrecy rules, polarized political commentary and the president's
>> >> > own
>> >> > deep
>> >> > reserve.
>>
>> >> > In interviews with The New York Times, three dozen of his current
>> >> > and
>> >> > former advisers described Mr. Obama's evolution since taking on the
>> >> > role,
>> >> > without precedent in presidential history, of personally overseeing
>> >> > the
>> >> > shadow war with Al Qaeda.
>>
>> >> > They describe a paradoxical leader who shunned the legislative
>> >> > deal-making
>> >> > required to close the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba,
>> >> > but
>> >> > approves lethal action without hand-wringing. While he was adamant
>> >> > about
>> >> > narrowing the fight and improving relations with the Muslim world,
>> >> > he
>> >> > has
>> >> > followed the metastasizing enemy into new and dangerous lands. When
>> >> > he
>> >> > applies his lawyering skills to counterterrorism, it is usually to
>> >> > enable,
>> >> > not constrain, his ferocious campaign against Al Qaeda — even when
>> >> > it
>> >> > comes
>>
>> >> > to killing an American cleric in Yemen, a decision that Mr. Obama
>> >> > told
>> >> > colleagues was "an easy one."
>>
>> >> > His first term has seen private warnings from top officials about a
>> >> > "Whac-A-Mole" approach to counterterrorism; the invention of a new
>> >> > category
>>
>> >> > of aerial attack following complaints of careless targeting; and
>> >> > presidential acquiescence in a formula for counting civilian deaths
>> >> > that
>> >> > some officials think is skewed to produce low numbers.
>>
>> >> > The administration's failure to forge a clear detention policy has
>> >> > created
>> >> > the impression among some members of Congress of a take-no-prisoners
>> >> > policy. And Mr. Obama's ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron P. Munter,
>> >> > has
>> >> > complained to colleagues that the
>> >> > C.I.A.<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/c...>'s
>>
>> >> > strikes drive American policy there, saying "he didn't realize his
>> >> > main
>> >> > job
>>
>> >> > was to kill people," a colleague said.
>>
>> >> > Beside the president at every step is his counterterrorism adviser,
>> >> > John
>> >> > O.
>>
>> >> > Brennan, who is variously compared by colleagues to a dogged police
>> >> > detective, tracking
>>
>> ...
>>
>> read more »
>
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