tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post7569236792178219410..comments2024-03-28T20:53:49.167-04:00Comments on The Adventures of Roberta X: On Re- And De-AnimationRoberta Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09956807794520627885noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-34920705805376886182011-10-05T17:01:41.350-04:002011-10-05T17:01:41.350-04:00Is it OK to target the Al Queda members who were a...Is it OK to target the Al Queda members who were accompanying Mr. Alwaki, and consider the US citizen to be collateral damage? I'd think so.<br /><br />Is it OK to target a person who falls under the Authorization to Use Military Force, passed by bipartisan vote in the US Congress and signed by the US President? I'd think so.<br /><br />Is it OK to target any illegal combatant waging a guerrilla war against the US? I'd think so.<br /><br />Is it OK to hold a summary trial by military officers, convict and execute an illegal combatant captured on the battlefield? It has been throughout all of history, usually leaving the military trial part of it out.mikeenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-46741341590977653052011-10-03T20:48:12.536-04:002011-10-03T20:48:12.536-04:00Anon: Amen.
Wildman: Al-Queda (and all it...Anon: Amen.<br /><br /> Wildman: Al-Queda (and all it's icky little wannabee and analogs) is, however, not a State. It isn't even a government.<br /><br /> Worse yet, the schmuck in question had not done the very simple little dance <a href="http://travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_776.html" rel="nofollow">to actually renounce his U. S. citizenship</a> -- and was probably counting on that. (The State Dept. and courts have been very picky about actually touching all the bases).<br /><br /> So, class, question, do you totally, absolutely, 120% trust the Executive branch to always be spot-on when they pick out some citizen who has been talkin' some kind of smack -- say, telling people to get out there and break some windows so's Congress knows they're riled, or suggesting we suspend elections, or wanting to send the well-to-do or ne'er-do-well off to reeducation camps -- brand him an Enemy Of The State, and splatter him all over the neighbors by remote control? <br /><br /> Yeah, this time it looks like a 99.99999999% chance they took out a bad guy and that's being overly generous; the problem comes when the Feds take that shiny new power to see what else they can clean up.Roberta Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09956807794520627885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-61671103844245618142011-10-03T10:57:44.710-04:002011-10-03T10:57:44.710-04:00The drone strikes provide a kind of western tech s...The drone strikes provide a kind of western tech symmetry to Islamist terror attacks. I admit a guilty pleasure in being able to respond to terror tactics with terror tactics. But like the terror bombing of German non-combatants, it's hard to adequately resolve all of the ethical issues.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-41872140569313771932011-10-03T04:15:38.455-04:002011-10-03T04:15:38.455-04:00Ignoring the controversy for the nonce, I believe ...Ignoring the controversy for the nonce, I believe that the War Department changed it's name to the Department of the Army, not Department of Defense...<br />Wikipedia says yes.<br />Not that changing the name of DoD to DoW wouldn't be more descriptive, but where would we bloggers be without our daily dose of pedanticism?<br /><br />And, yes, Alwacky was going a bit further than just expressing disapproval of the US of A. OTOH, I'm not aware of any <i>due</i> process, by which an American citizen can be shorn of his or her citizenship, <i>in absentia</i>. OTGH, would one send US Marshals through Ranger School to arrest double tangos (traitorous terrorists), or deputize Rangers or SEALS? I'm guessing the latter...Dranghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08082177597135236652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-84823087942995705252011-10-03T02:29:47.893-04:002011-10-03T02:29:47.893-04:00The problem is not so much the idea that someone f...The problem is not so much the idea that someone fighting for the bad guys ought to be a fair target. It's the idea that same arm of the goverment is both judge and jury. There's not even the slightest chance of checks and balances in that setup. "Trust us, he was a terrorist" is not to be enough reason for a U.S. citizen to be deprived of due process. Even if the government is telling the truth.<br /><br />A power, any power (but don't forget that we're talking about execution, which is one <i>Hell</i> of a power) one delegates to government is a scattergun at best, with a rather poor ability to hit just the intended target. No power should ever be delegated to government without first imagining government turning that power on you or your loved ones.Wayne Conradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10595005905880642013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-11231960785802813092011-10-03T00:45:39.538-04:002011-10-03T00:45:39.538-04:00When the death toll from the 'Remote Flying Th...When the death toll from the 'Remote Flying Things' starts to even up, I MIGHT start to consider it an even game. Any ideas as to numbers?Jerryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18264170464476439417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-75536550708130445962011-10-03T00:32:09.375-04:002011-10-03T00:32:09.375-04:00The Question running through my mind (VERY short l...The Question running through my mind (VERY short laps) is, "was this person even STILL an American Citizen?" You go here: <br /><br />http://travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_778.html<br /><br />And you find those Actions which can cost you your Citizenship. One in Particular jumps out; "Entering or serving in the armed forces of a foreign state engaged in hostilities against the U.S. or serving as a commissioned or non-commissioned officer in the armed forces of a foreign state (Sec. 349 (a) (3) INA)". <br /><br />Last I checked, Al-Qaeda in not an organization that has The United States best interests at heart. As a former Enlisted, I LIKE the idea that you fight a war by taking out the highest ranking members of the Opposition possible. That's why the President has the Secret Service and the Top Commanders in the Field have Bodyguards to keep unfriendly strangers at arms length. Had Lord Ha-Ha or Tokyo Rose received a 500 lb General Demolition Greeting Card, I don't see that there would have been much of a difference than what happened with Anwar al-Awlaki.<br /><br />If the problem is that some nameless Bureaucrat in the State Department failed to do the proper paperwork years ago, then several somebodies need to be fired for cause.Wildman7316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-550289162492365392011-10-02T16:22:29.518-04:002011-10-02T16:22:29.518-04:00He was not just talking, he was giving aid and com...He was not just talking, he was giving aid and comfort to declared enemies of his county and was killed while in the company of said enemies. That makes him, no, he made himself a legitimate military target. If taking him out would mean less chance of my son or another US service man or woman serving a third term overseas, I'd be happy to pull the trigger on the slimeball myself.Chris Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12730570977897344874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-37209813012676780262011-10-02T16:11:09.813-04:002011-10-02T16:11:09.813-04:00A) I never signed any "social contract,"...A) I never signed any "social contract," did you? --Or are we all born in slavery to the flag?<br /><br />B) If he had been killed resisting arrest, I could make my peace with that, or if J. Private Citizen hunted him down 'cos of losin' a loved one to the self-imolating goatherders, there'd be ways to sort that out; but no, since all this (filthy, no good misbegotten) citizen did was speak and write freely, I would not be more comfy with fed.gov parking a sniper team down the road and erasing him when he stepped out to pick up the morning paper. Or even havin' SEALs ring the doorbell and cap 'im. Government ought not behave towards its citizens like the Cosa Nostra.Roberta Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09956807794520627885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-84929340729165830712011-10-02T15:42:25.274-04:002011-10-02T15:42:25.274-04:00I view it in terms of the social contract, as outl...I view it in terms of the social contract, as outlined by my very on-the-ball high school government teacher. If a citizen of a nation begins actively espousing the death of his fellow citizens, and providing advice and encouragement to those in pursuit of the same, that country is well within bounds to take him out by whatever means necessary. <br /><br />I have wonder if the impersonal method of dispatch accounts for a large part of the sour taste in Tam's and your mouths -- had it been a hands-on assassination, or a sniper, do you think your reaction might have been a little different?Joannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10952078709114872197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-16280648509038923642011-10-02T14:22:39.479-04:002011-10-02T14:22:39.479-04:00WRT "War Department": If you recall Pip...WRT "War Department": If you recall Piper's <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20121/20121-h/20121-h.htm" rel="nofollow"><i>Lone Star Planet</i></a> (AKA <i>A Planet for Texans</i>), you'll recall also that the Solar League in that odd little out-of-canon story had recently renamed its DoD to "Department of Aggression".<br /><br />[excerpt starts]<br /><br />"We have a Department of Aggression," I replied. "Its mottoes are, 'Stop trouble before it starts,' and, 'If we have to fight, let's do it on the other fellow's real estate.'"<br /><br />[excerpt ends]<br /><br />I have no problem with that. We probably ought to start by sending US troops across the Rio Grande and preemtively taking out both the Sinaloa and Zetas cartels.<br /><br />But that would be a little 1846-ish for Comrade Zero, I suppose.Fuzzy Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03802539927743643041noreply@blogger.com