11-05-2012, 03:20 AM
deckeda wrote:
[quote=mick e]
The constitution applies to the US Government and how it treats its citizens - it says nothing about whether this treatment is only protected when on US soil.
Unless I misunderstood, I think that's exactly what michaelb's getting at.
Yes, that is what I was saying. But I am not an expert at all in this area either. Generally, you don't have "constitutional rights" when you are out of the country. Those rights may attach if you are taken into US custody outside the US. But don't let anyone suggest these aren't complex legal, ethical and political questions.
If we are talking about killing a US citizen in Yemen for terrorist activities with drone strike, my main point was: nothing in the constitution governs that situation directly and there are no clear international laws on point (it does probably violate some international laws, but their application in a quasi rogue state like Yemen that doesn't abide by laws is unclear).
I do think that is probably "wrong" and not something we should do. But that means that taking out Bin Laden may also have been wrong (for similar but slightly different reasons). And it also means that if we can do this stuff, then Bush may have been right about some of the things his administration was doing, and that is very hard to come to terms with now.