mobster
07-23-2004, 05:33 AM
AP: News Wire: 2001
Taking-aim-at-Bin-Laden200US President George Bush has authorized the killing of about two dozen terrorist leaders, including Osama Bin Laden. The CIA needs no further approval to kill the persons named on this hit list if they can't be captured instead. Since 1976, the US has had a policy against assassinations. That policy remains in effect, but does not cover "enemy combatants": the designation given the individuals on the target list.
In 1976, then president Ford signed an executive order forbidding anyone working for the United States to engage in assassinations. The order came in the wake of the Watergate scandal, when Congressional hearings looked into all sorts of secret government operations. Congress revealed past CIA efforts to murder foreign leaders such as Cuba's Castro, Haiti's Duvalier and Indonesia's Sukarno. President Ford's signature prohibited further such attempts.
Legitimate targets
Since then, that policy has evolved. Foreign leaders may become legitimate targets in a military strike, particularly if that strike is in response to terrorism against the US. After the 1986 terrorist bombing of a Berlin discotheque killed two American soldiers, President Reagan approved retaliation against Libya. Libya's leader Muammar Khaddafi was held responsible for the bombing. He survived the American air strikes, but his infant daughter did not.
Recently, former president Bill Clinton confirmed that he had signed an order approving the use of lethal force against al-Qaeda - several years before the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
"Enemy combatants"
President Bush has taken that authority one step further yet. He has designated in advance specific foreigners who may be killed when appearing in the CIA's crosshairs, if their capture is not possible and civilian casualties can be minimized. The targeted individuals are classified as "enemy combatants" engaged in terrorism against the US, and therefore not subject to the restrictions president Ford placed on assassinations.
Mr Bush signed off on this policy some time ago, but the existence of this presidential hit list has only just been revealed and the US will not officially comment on it. Last month in Yemen, in a long-distance operation involving an unmanned Predator airplane firing a Hellfire missile, the CIA killed Abu Ali, a man US intelligence believed to be a high-ranking al-Qaeda leader.
Israeli tactic
This policy echoes Israel's assassinations of Palestinians judged to be behind suicide attacks against civilians. In the past the US has criticized this Israeli tactic, but lately not as much. Commentators in the American media find the distinctions made between prohibited and sanctioned killings troubling. In guarded, perfunctory comments, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer gave assurances that President Bush would never approve illegal acts.
Taking-aim-at-Bin-Laden200US President George Bush has authorized the killing of about two dozen terrorist leaders, including Osama Bin Laden. The CIA needs no further approval to kill the persons named on this hit list if they can't be captured instead. Since 1976, the US has had a policy against assassinations. That policy remains in effect, but does not cover "enemy combatants": the designation given the individuals on the target list.
In 1976, then president Ford signed an executive order forbidding anyone working for the United States to engage in assassinations. The order came in the wake of the Watergate scandal, when Congressional hearings looked into all sorts of secret government operations. Congress revealed past CIA efforts to murder foreign leaders such as Cuba's Castro, Haiti's Duvalier and Indonesia's Sukarno. President Ford's signature prohibited further such attempts.
Legitimate targets
Since then, that policy has evolved. Foreign leaders may become legitimate targets in a military strike, particularly if that strike is in response to terrorism against the US. After the 1986 terrorist bombing of a Berlin discotheque killed two American soldiers, President Reagan approved retaliation against Libya. Libya's leader Muammar Khaddafi was held responsible for the bombing. He survived the American air strikes, but his infant daughter did not.
Recently, former president Bill Clinton confirmed that he had signed an order approving the use of lethal force against al-Qaeda - several years before the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
"Enemy combatants"
President Bush has taken that authority one step further yet. He has designated in advance specific foreigners who may be killed when appearing in the CIA's crosshairs, if their capture is not possible and civilian casualties can be minimized. The targeted individuals are classified as "enemy combatants" engaged in terrorism against the US, and therefore not subject to the restrictions president Ford placed on assassinations.
Mr Bush signed off on this policy some time ago, but the existence of this presidential hit list has only just been revealed and the US will not officially comment on it. Last month in Yemen, in a long-distance operation involving an unmanned Predator airplane firing a Hellfire missile, the CIA killed Abu Ali, a man US intelligence believed to be a high-ranking al-Qaeda leader.
Israeli tactic
This policy echoes Israel's assassinations of Palestinians judged to be behind suicide attacks against civilians. In the past the US has criticized this Israeli tactic, but lately not as much. Commentators in the American media find the distinctions made between prohibited and sanctioned killings troubling. In guarded, perfunctory comments, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer gave assurances that President Bush would never approve illegal acts.