Justice Department Memo Reveals Legal Case for Drone Strikes on Americans

NBC confirms:

A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be “senior operational leaders” of al-Qaida or “an associated force” -- even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S.

The 16-page memo, a copy of which was obtained by NBC News, provides new details about the legal reasoning behind one of the Obama administration’s most secretive and controversial polices: its dramatically increased use of drone strikes against al-Qaida suspects abroad, including those aimed at American citizens, such as the September 2011 strike in Yemen that killed alleged al-Qaida operatives Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan. Both were U.S. citizens who had never been indicted by the U.S. government nor charged with any crimes...

And so forth.

I used to buy into the whole "People shouldn't be allowed to have surface-to-air missiles etc. etc." rhetoric. But I honestly believe I may have been wrong about that. You can't shoot down a drone with small arms, even one that's "military style," or of the "assault" variety and fitted with "high-magazine clips."

But why worry? Barack Obama is super-cool, and also we are the government. Even after you've been blown into little chunks from a charge-less, trial-less drone strike, these things will still be true!