Meanwhile, Back At the Crawford Ranch

Apparently, the administration's Justice Department (which we will soon be calling the Ministry of Love, or miniluv, in Newspeak) is now providing legal justification for Bush-sponsored death squads. (via Majikthise)

If we know where a terrorism suspect is, why is it insufficient to arrest him? From Bush's point of view, arrest would place a terrorism suspect in the hands of the judicial branch, with all the inconvenient legal rights that involves. A prosecutor would have to explain to a judge why this person is believed to be a terrorist, which might expose a variety of intelligence tactics that violate the U.S. Constitution. A dead suspect can't plead for his legal rights or deny the charges against him. As long as the killing is kept secret, there's no opportunity for oversight from any level of government.

In essence, the Bush administration is claiming the power of life or death over the citizens of the United States. They've made mistakes in identifying Al Qaida suspects before--like that German-Arab fellow on Sixty Minutes whom the CIA kidnapped and tortured, only to release later. With sanctioned murder, the government has a means of guaranteeing that their errors will never be made public.

Next up--the sanctioned murder of incovenient scientists and government officials.