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Forum Post: Murder, Inc: Official Obama Policy > Obama’s Wars Increase Body Counts Daily

Posted 11 years ago on June 4, 2012, 4:34 p.m. EST by caravan (16)
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Murder, Inc: Official Obama Policy

by Stephen Lendman

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2012/06/01/murder-inc-official-obama-policy/

Obama’s wars increase body counts daily. New ones planned will add more. Death squads operate in 120 or more countries. So do CIA agents licensed to kill.

US citizens may be targeted at home or abroad. No one anywhere is safe.

Summary judgment means no arrests. No Miranda rights. No due process. No trial. Just a bullet, bomb or slit throat. It’s official Obama policy. Diktat authority affords justice to no one ordered killed.

On May 29, The New York Times upped the stakes. Its article headlined “Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will,” saying: Obama “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.”

In other words, he appointed himself judge, jury and executioner. Despot authority is official administration policy. Diktats decide who lives or dies.

Anyone called Al Qaeda or accused of terrorist connections gets marked for death.

What “moral and legal conundrum” could he face, asked The Times. None whatever. On day one in office, he spurned rule of law principles. He adopted George Bush’s ideology. His predecessor called “the Constitution….just a G-damn piece of paper.”

Obama feels the same. He’s comfortable with “unitary executive” authority. It puts him above the law. Chalmers Johnson called it “a ball-faced assertion of presidential supremacy….dressed up in legalistic mumbo jumbo.”

International law is quaint and out-of-date, he believes. Diktat authority replaced it. The former constitutional law professor abandoned what he taught. He campaigned against war and torture. In office, he exceeded the worst of his predecessor.

He usurped the power of life and death, including against US citizens. He’s got final “kill list” authority.

Policy prioritizes killing by drones, death squads, or other means. Only eliminating America’s enemies matter. Whether real or imagined makes no difference.

The more removed, the greater the number replacing them. According to national security adviser Thomas Donilon:

“He is determined that he will make these decisions about how far and wide these operations will go. His view is that he’s responsible for the position of the United States in the world. He’s determined to keep the tether pretty short.”

His “aggressive counterterrorism record” baffles supporters and critics alike. Secrecy obscures policies. Shadow war actions aren’t publicized. Deadly force is approved “without hand-wringing.” So is fork-tongued politics, torture and other lawless practices.

For Obama, killing Americans comes “easy.” Waging war on Islam is policy. So is take no prisoners. Counterterrorism is cover for wholesale or retail slaughter. Collateral deaths don’t matter.

US Pakistan ambassador, Cameron Munter, complained about CIA drone strikes. He told colleagues “he didn’t realize his main job was to kill people.”

Obama and counterterrorism adviser John Brennan collaborate on who lives or dies. Both match each other’s bloodthirstiness. “Just war” thinking overrides rule of law principles and moral considerations. “Drones have replaced Guantanamo as the recruiting tool of choice for militants.” America needs enemies to justify war. Avoiding peace and stability is policy.

Former national intelligence director Dennis Blair said:

“The steady refrain in the White House was (targeted killing) is the only game in town – reminded me of body counts in Vietnam.”

Unanswered is when will killing stop? Who’ll denounce what’s unconscionable? Who in government believes right over wrong matters most? No one around Obama dares. His administration doesn’t tolerate justice, morality, and rule of law principles.

On matters of war and peace, only imperial interests matter. Ends justify means.

“A phalanx of retired generals and admirals stood behind Mr. Obama on the second day of his presidency.”

They “provid(ed) martial cover as he signed several executive orders to make good on campaign pledges. Brutal interrogation techniques were banned, he declared. And the prison at Guantánamo Bay would be closed.”

Guantanamo remains open. Other torture prisons expanded. Every major promise made was broken. Wars rage without end. New ones are planned. Killing like sport continues daily.

Unlike voters who believed in him, he “was never carried away by his own rhetoric.” Lying came easily. So did going rogue. Amoral realpolitik defines his thinking.

Morality has no place in government. Nor do human rights and other democratic values. Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel calls it “cold-blooded (thinking) about the self-interests of your nation.” Body counts don’t matter, just objectives.

From inception, Obama’s doctrine featured human sacrifice for unchallenged dominance. Winning alone matters. Anything goes is policy. He has final say.

In 2008, campaign national security strategists advised “pragmatism over ideology.” Urging it “reinforced the president’s instincts.”

Policy rules out nothing. Rhetoric woos supporters. Major objectives aren’t deterred. They include war, torture, rendition, military commissions, indefinite detentions, and targeted killings.

Nothing stands in his way. He’s ruthless. His public persona hides it. Those around him know better.

Openly he urges sparing innocent lives. Privately he doesn’t give a damn. Under Bush, Iraq and Afghanistan rules of engagement were kill every military aged man in sight. Obama changed nothing. Mostly civilians die. Policies don’t distinguish militants from noncombatants. In Libya alone, NATO killed over 100,000. Killer gangs took many more lives. No one kept count or cared.

Obama’s thinking reflects it. Pragmatism alone matters. Humanity is someone else’s problem. Everyone targeted in strike zones is fair game. Being there means they’re “up to no good,” even women and children. An unnamed official said “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.”

The same goes for residents where militants are targeted. Being there justifies indiscriminate killing.

Official counts distort reality. Combatants alone are killed, they claim. Independent analysts say as many as 50 civilians die for every militant. In combat theaters everywhere, ordinary people suffer most.

Former intelligence and government officials admit it. According to one: “It bothers me when they say there were seven guys, so they must all be militants. They count the corpses” but don’t care who they are.

National security advisor Donilon says Obama “is a president who is quite comfortable with the use of force on behalf of the United States.” Forgotten is candidate Obama’s pledge to end America’s wars. On October 27, 2007, he said:

“I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out (of Afghanistan and Iraq) by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do.”

“I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to (these wars). You can take that to the bank.”

He also promised hope, change, a new era of peace, upholding democratic values, closing Guantanamo in one year, ending torture, no more illegal spying and detention without trial, “a new era of openness,” equitable immigration reform, keeping the Internet free and open, negotiations with Syria, Iran and other countries targeted for regime change, and much more.

In office, he broke every major promise made. Loyal constituents were betrayed. Imperial and corporate considerations were prioritized. Popular needs went begging.

Arrogance, unaccountability, and contempt for democratic values define his presidency. Rule of law principles don’t matter. Take no prisoners is prioritized. If reelected, imagine what’s ahead in a second term. More Sharing Services

12 Comments

12 Comments


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[-] 2 points by SparkyJP (1646) from Westminster, MD 11 years ago

TrevorMnemonic 2 days ago wrote:

7 countries on the agenda - 4 Star General Wesley Clark

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha1rEhovONU

Video from 2007... since then Libya was taken out and now Syria and Iran are the talks. It's taken much longer than 5 years.


Obama is just the latest puppet assigned to perpetuate the Bilderburg agenda. Why else would he pursue the bush doctrine?

"Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period and pursued unalterably through every change of ministers, too plainly prove a deliberate, systematic plan of reducing [a people] to slavery." --Thomas Jefferson

[-] 2 points by JadedCitizen (4277) 11 years ago

I'm moving to Latveria. Putting up with Dr. Doom is preferable to this shit.

[-] 1 points by stevebol (1269) from Milwaukee, WI 11 years ago

Americans seem to prefer chicken-hawks to vets with good service records. No, this does not include McCain or Kerry. You get what you vote for. If a real leader like Eisenhower was president right now I know exactly what he would do. Raise taxes on the rich, start construction projects to keep people busy and put the Tea Party in Fema camps until they shut up.

[-] 1 points by DoubleVoice (115) 11 years ago

What will Romney do differently?

Will he close Guantanamo?

Will he pull the troops out of Afghanistan IMMEDIATELY?

Will he stop the drone attacks?

Does his budget plan reduce defense spending?

Does Romney think that Obama isn't "doing enough" when it comes to attacking Islamic countries?

[-] 2 points by caravan (16) 11 years ago

Nothing. He'll do nothing differently. The two party paradigm is a sham. We need to take the government back to the people. At the very least, there should be many, many parties to choose from, so we can vote on the issues instead of the lesser of two evils. But two parties is the best way to keep the masses under control and divided into two feuding packs. Forget the two party paradigm. Its just a different puppet in the Whitehouse with the same agenda. Demand more. Much more!

[-] 2 points by DoubleVoice (115) 11 years ago

Absolutely agree. We should all be jealous of the variety in political parties that exist in much of Europe.

[-] 2 points by JadedCitizen (4277) 11 years ago

No fair. I only got one voice.

[-] 1 points by caravan (16) 11 years ago

One vote perhaps, but many voices. Never in history have we had so many voices as we do today. Tweet, fb, make youtube videos. You have an audience of hundreds of thousand....millions. We should all be making youtube videos everyday, like "backtoconstitution" on youtube does. If ten people saw your youtube videos and those ten folks made videos that ten people saw, and so on, within a month, the entire population could know what's truly going on.

[-] 1 points by TrueEarth (11) 11 years ago

Mr. Hopey Changey still lookin' like the picture of honesty now? Can you believe there are still people that stand there with a straight face saying he's got the best interests of the people?!?!

[-] 2 points by Renneye (3874) 11 years ago

Hahaha...sigh.....alas, sadly I know what you mean. I've seen it with my own eyes. You just wanna shake 'em, ya know !! The question begs, "what will it take". I fear we're about to find out. Lets cut to the chase and name these oligarch monsters and take back our power ! Get their NAMES on signs out in the streets, in our front windows, on our front lawns, across bridge overpasses, on every alternate news site! Tweet awayyyyyy!

[-] 1 points by hchc (3297) from Tampa, FL 11 years ago

Welcome to the new america

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[-] 0 points by foreeverLeft (-264) 11 years ago

We only get mad when it's those fucking Republicans doing the murdering.

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