Secret panel can put Americans on "kill list'

[IDemo]

By Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American militants like Anwar al-Awlaki are placed on a kill or capture list by a secretive panel of senior government officials, which then informs the president of its decisions, according to officials.

There is no public record of the operations or decisions of the panel, which is a subset of the White House's National Security Council, several current and former officials said. Neither is there any law establishing its existence or setting out the rules by which it is supposed to operate.

The panel was behind the decision to add Awlaki, a U.S.-born militant preacher with alleged al Qaeda connections, to the target list. He was killed by a CIA drone strike in Yemen late last month.

The role of the president in ordering or ratifying a decision to target a citizen is fuzzy. White House spokesman Tommy Vietor declined to discuss anything about the process.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/05/us-cia-killlist-idUSTRE79475C20111005

[ret5hd]

1. Fuzzy? Doesn't sound fuzzy to me.

got coup?

[leveymg]

2. Another marker of the End of the Republic.

Farewell, America. Sorta thought this might come when Gen. Patreaus took over.

[Fumesucker]

3. Two words..

Star Chamber.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Chamber

[SixthSense]

4. there's your "death panel"

some sick irony in this

[bananas]

5. This will expand and be delegated out, eventually we'll have our own version of SAVAK.

As I posted the other day:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=2042650&mesg_id=2043068

Without judicial review it's just the say-so of whoever happens to be in the White House,
and in the future it will be whoever he delegates that authority to.

[_ed_]

6. Tyranny

Plain and simple.