Sunday, May 15, 2016

Extrajudicial Assassinations by Matthew Homsher 9th

Summary: A pacifist Unitarian Universalist reverend who has long opposed American military intervention, Chris Antal, resigned from his position as an Army Chaplain after giving a sermon on drone strikes that removed him from active duty in Afghanistan and barred him from promotion.  He wrote an impassioned letter to the Commander-in-Chief, signaling his resignation. In the Reverend’s words, “I could have gone quietly, I realize that. But I decided to submit a resignation in protest because I want to use the opportunity to raise public awareness, to generate public conversation, and hold the administration accountable. ” Reverend Antal has called President Obama’s drone policy “death by remote control” saying it gave the President the right to “kill anyone, anywhere on earth, at any time, for secret reasons.”

Synopsis: Extrajudicial killing is defined as a type of killing by government authorities without the sanction of any judicial proceeding or legal process. In this article, extrajudicial killing takes the form of drones. It does allow the President to kill anyone at any time or any place. This goes against several constitutional rights, but because it has been used in an act of war, it is justified. This single power is greater than that of a nuclear strike. Nuclear strikes, at least, require a confirmation by a chain of command while drone strikes require no such regulation. The power needs to be addressed because it is so absolute, and can be easily corrupted.

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