Barack Obama the war criminal

Let’s think back to 2006. Some of you might remember the strange death of Alexander Litvinenko, a Russian citizen living in England. Litvinenko was a former member of the KGB who had willingly left Russia and was highly critical of then-President Vladimir Putin.

In 2006, Litvinenko suddenly fell ill and died soon after. The cause of death was determined to be radioactive poisoning via the rare isotope polonium-210. On his deathbed, Litvinenko accused Putin of plotting his death.

The Russian government denied any involvement and refused to extradite the Russian citizens the British government claimed were involved in the assassination.

The case has now gone cold, as there is little chance of European governments forcing the Russian government to cooperate.

However, the incident is surprisingly relevant to current events in the United States. President Barack Obama recently oversaw the extrajudicial killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen living in Yemen.

More accurately, Obama ordered the murder of one of his own citizens. Yes, al-Awlaki was accused of working with Al Qaida and assisting in plots to attack the U.S. But these allegations were never proven in a court of law. The Obama administration did not even try to capture al-Awlaki. The president was content to sign a secret memorandum and condemn one of his own citizens to a violent death.

This is an unprecedented violation of the Constitution by the executive branch. The only difference between the assassinations of Litvinenko and al-Awlaki is that President Putin had the basic decency to deny his government’s involvement in the murder of its own citizen. President Obama had no such decency. Instead, the same man who won a Nobel Peace Prize had the audacity to make a public speech celebrating the death of al-Awlaki.

This behavior is shameful and sickening. Perhaps President Obama is content to celebrate the murder he ordered because this is far from the first killing he has overseen. After all, this is the same president who expanded the U.S. drone war farther into Pakistan and Yemen. This is the same drone war that has killed more than 2,500 Pakistanis since 2004. Most of those deaths were civilians, yet we see no remorse from Obama.

When President George W. Bush ordered the unjustified invasion of Iraq, there were massive protests in the U.S. Liberals poured into the streets to demand an end to the war. But at least President Bush made a show of following the law, receiving Congressional approval for his wars. President Obama has not shown even a pretense of respect for the law, yet liberals do nothing. They protest the state of the economy but are silent while the hope-peddling president they elected orders the murder of their fellow citizens.

At this very instant, Obama’s army of drones is cruising through the airspace of the Middle East, silently targeting men and women for death. We have no way of knowing how many other citizens of the U.S. have been secretly selected for death. We won’t know until the next time the president shows his smirking face on television to celebrate another murder.

— atcrane@indiana.edu