I received two letters
from your office yesterday, both in response to my opposition of the use of armed
drones. The first letter is a word-for-word duplicate of your letter of April
25 and my response is still the same: “The only
statement… I agree with is this: ‘Unfortunately, your view
and my view differ on this subject.’” Your second letter adds AG Holder’s weasel-worded
response to Sen. Cruz’s question during a Senate Judiciary committee hearing on
March 6 “whether it’s constitutional to kill an innocent U.S. citizen on U.S.
soil.” “Not appropriate,” Holder replied. Well, duh! The following day he
responded to Sen. Rand Paul’s rhetorical question, “Does the president have the
authority to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on
American soil?” “No,” he said. Well, duh! again. I am reminded of Kissinger’s
statement in 1975 when he was Secretary of State, however: “The illegal
we do immediately; the unconstitutional takes a little longer.” Nothing has
changed. Was the assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen, constitutional?
Or the assassination of his 16-year-old son? Why should I believe Holder,
Obama, you or any government official will uphold the Constitution when examples
abound that this is not true? Guantanamo, Kill Lists, Targeted Assassinations,
indefinite detentions, pervasive surveillance and a disregard for law, both
foreign and domestic, is now accepted policy. Whistle blowers are jailed while
torturers go free. Bradley Manning’s constitutional rights are violated in the
most blatant manner and you sit silent. Drones violate the sovereignty of other
nations and you say nothing. Drone strikes kill hundreds of civilians and you parrot
Brennan’s ridiculous claim that civilian casualties are “in the single digits.”
Your Intelligence Committee has failed its duty “to ensure counterterrorism operations
are legal, effective, and consistent with our national values.” The CIA is a
syndicate of assassins that refuses to tell your committee even what countries they
are killing people in and you accept it. The DOJ refuses to make public the secret
justifications for killing U.S. citizens without a trial and you accept it. War
crimes are committed and you are complicit. The president violates the
Constitution and you accept that. Your committee is a rubber stamp for wars of
aggression and crimes against humanity. You have failed the American people and
democracy. Shame on you. Shame on America.
cc: Representative Nancy Pelosi
cc: Representative Nancy Pelosi
Senator Barbara Boxer
President Barack Obama
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