2010 Ron Paul 8:2
What have we allowed ourselves to
become? Are we no longer a Nation of
laws? Have we become instead a Nation
of men who make secret arrests? Are
secret prisons now simply another tool
of Federal Government law enforcement?
Is secret rendition of individuals
now permitted, out of misplaced fear?
Have we decided that the writ of habeas
corpus is not worth defending? Is
torture now an acceptable tool for
making us safe? Unfortunately, the
single answer to all of these questions
from the leaders of our country and to
many of our citizens appears to be
“yes”.
2010 Ron Paul 8:3
And now we are told that assassination
of foreigners as well as American
citizens is legitimate and necessary to
provide security for our people. It is
my firm opinion that nothing could be
further from the truth. Secret arrests,
secret renditions, torture, and assassinations
are illegal under both domestic
and international law. These activities
should be anathema to the citizens
of a constitutional Republic.
2010 Ron Paul 8:4
The real threat doesnít arise from
our failure to torture. Rather, desensitizing
our Nation to the willful neglect
and sacrifice of our civil liberties,
fought and died for over the centuries,
is the threat.
2010 Ron Paul 8:5
The concept of habeas corpus existed
even before King John of England was
forced in 1215 by his rebellious barons
to sign the Magna Carta. This basic
principle and expression of individual
liberty, which has survived 800 years,
greatly influenced the writing of our
Constitution and our common law heritage.
2010 Ron Paul 8:6
Today we hardly hear a whimper, either
from the American people or a
stone silent U.S. Government as our
cherished liberties are eradicated. Instead,
we have a government that deliberately
orchestrates needless fear
and makes people insecure enough to
ignore the reality of their lost liberties.
2010 Ron Paul 8:7
The latest outrage is the current administrationís
acknowledgment that
we now have a policy that permits assassination
not only of foreign suspects,
but of American citizens as well.
Of course the CIA has used secret assassinations
in a limited fashion for
decades, despite international, domestic,
and moral law. When done secretly,
as in the past, our government at least
recognized that assassination was illegal
and wrong. Frighteningly and astonishingly,
however, the policy is now
explicit.
2010 Ron Paul 8:8
National Intelligence Director Dennis
Blair, in open testimony before the
House Intelligence Committee on February
3 of this year, acknowledged that
American citizens can indeed be assassinated
at our governmentís discretion.
The U.S. Government attempted to assassinate
Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen
without even charging him with a
crime. We are told this evidence is secret,
that he does not deserve any constitutional
rights, and that some unknown
individual in the administration
has the authority to declare him a
threat, and therefore a legitimate target
for assassination.
2010 Ron Paul 8:9
Yes, I know, he is probably a very
bad person. Yes, I know that only a few
Americans are on the assassination hit
list.
2010 Ron Paul 8:10
Yes, I know that artificially generated
fear makes a large number of
Americans inclined to applaud this effort
which supposedly will make us
safe. But if this becomes standard operating
procedure and a permanent
precedent is established, let me assure
you that this abuse of the law will
spread.
2010 Ron Paul 8:11
Itís time for Congress and the American
people to wake up to the realities
of the dangers we face. We must remember,
as Members of Congress, that
we have taken an oath to protect and
defend the Constitution from all enemies,
foreign and domestic. It should
not be that difficult to distinguish the
difference between the danger posed by
the underwear bomber and the danger
posed by a government that endorses
secret prisons, torture, and assassinating
American citizens.
