Monday, May 20, 2013

Pentagon Rewrites Constitution

In a Thursday Senate hearing that went largely unreported by the corporate mass media, Pentaton officials affirmed the concept of "endless war" by arguing for the continuation of counter terrorism laws that have curtailed civil liberties until al-Qaeda or anyone associated with it are eliminated. Senator Angus King (I-MA) said the testimony was "astounding and astoundingly disturbing" telling the witnesses, "you guys have essentially rewritten the Constitution here today." The Pentagon officials maintain that the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) is sufficent to send US forces into Syria, Yemen and the Congo without further congressional action. The Senate is considering amending the 2001 authorization which granted the Charlantan the authority to invade Afghanistan and Iraq as well as create a global counter-terror operation that uses indefinite detention, rendition, lethal drones, and torture to combat terrorism. The Act broadly empowered the last President to "use all necessary and appropriate force against" persons or associated forces he determines to be responsible or aided the homeland attacks of September 11, 2011. The language has been criticized since it inception by legal scholars and civil rights activists as institutionalizing an endless war campaign that is debilitation our civil society and civilian authority over the military complex. The Pentagon sees the world as a global battlefield because its current enemy is stateless. The essential point the Pentagon warmongers miss or deliberately ignore is that the United States war policy against terror is self-perpetuating and actually increases hostilities worldwide.  Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev scrawled on the inside of the boat he hid from police in that he was avenging innocent Muslims killed by the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Civil rights experts urged the Senate committee to retire the law passed in the shock of an unprecedented and successful act of terror against the continental United States. Essentially the AUMF is a blank check written in advance and makes Congress' constitutional war powers null and void. Theoretically, under the current administration's interpretation of the law which is similar to the previous administration's, a United States government could declare "war" on an individual, even a citizen living within its territorial limits, and eliminate him or her using military force without a jot of guaranteed due process of law. Don't believe it? Watch the video.