Targeted Killing History

During the past decade of military operations combating terrorism, members of the U.S. government have thoroughly debated the power of the President and the role of Congress during a time of war. A historical review of war powers in America demonstrates the unchecked power of the executive when it comes to military decision-making and the use of force. Throughout history the power of the President to initiate, conduct, and sustain military operations without oversight has greatly increased. Through a historical lens, this essay will

Widely regarded as one of the most beloved presidents, John F. Kennedy is still remembered to this day. President Kennedy was involved in one of the most controversial topics in the history of the United States. Although a few presidents prior to JFK were unfortunately assassinated, JFK’s assassination is the one most discussed. Although many Americans know that Lee Harvey Oswald was the man that shot President Kennedy, no one knows what motivated him to do so. The FBI concluded that he committed the crime on his own will without ties to any groups. However, not everyone believes what the FBI tells them. One of the more popular theories regarding the President’s assassination is that CIA had plotted to kill him. In an online article, “The CIA and the JFK Assassination” written by the Mary Ferrell Foundation, the author of the article discusses the theory of the CIA killing the President and how the evidence supports the theory. This conspiracy theory garners a specific audience as the text targets those who are in fear of national security, have beliefs in Christianity, distrust the U.S. government, interested in socially significant events, and value knowing the truth.

The day November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, would soon become known as a tragic day in US history. John F Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, had been drumming up support the upcoming election. Tragically, he was brutally gunned down by Lee Harvey Oswald. At first glance, this assassination seems like a simple murder. A communist defector simply was angry with JFK and decided to kill him. Many people have failed to notice, however, that the CIA not only had motive to kill JFK, but they also attempted to cover up many details about Lee Harvey Oswald, and JFK in general. If the general populus continues to believe what the CIA wants them to, we will never understand who truly was responsible for his death. The CIA played a large role in John F Kennedy’s death because of the CIA’s motive to kill him, the CIA coverups in the investigation following his death, and promising unfollowed leads that the investigators have suspiciously ignored.

The day November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, would soon become known as a tragic day in US history. John F Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, had been drumming up support for the upcoming election. Tragically, he was brutally gunned down by Lee Harvey Oswald. At first glance, this assassination seems like a simple murder. A communist defector simply was angry with JFK and decided to kill him. Many people have failed to notice, however, that the CIA not only had motive to kill JFK, but they also attempted to cover up many details about Lee Harvey Oswald, and JFK in general. If the general populus continues to believe what the CIA wants them to, we will never understand who truly was responsible for his death. The CIA played a large role in John F Kennedy’s death because of the CIA’s motive to kill him, the CIA coverups in the investigation following his death, and promising unfollowed leads that the investigators have ignored.

Domestic terrorism has been a major threat in the US since the catastrophic event that took place during attack on 9/11. Following the aftermath of the terrorist attack, the US intelligence services and law enforcement agencies emphasized heavily on combating terrorism on global scale as international terrorism was views as the major threat to the public security of the US which caused the issue of domestic terrorism to be overlooked. We have seen many terrorist attacks since the attack on 9/11 that were planned and executed by individuals and groups born and raised in America. Some of those attacks include the Oklahoma City bombing, the Boston marathon bombing. There has also been increasing number of mass shooting by individuals that were identified as to be radicalized by terrorist groups abroad, the most recent mass shooting that was identified as a terrorist act was in Orlando where more than 50 people were killed (Alveraz, p.1). The cases mentioned above will be discussed in detail later in the essay. Although, American law enforcement agencies are actively conducting intelligence and operational missions to prevent international terrorism, however, the US needs to develop efficient tactics to prevent the rise of domestic terrorism. Otherwise, the United States may face a danger of the unfailing growth of domestic terrorism similar to some of the European countries; such as the United Kingdom. Consequently, law enforcement agencies should concentrate on the preclusion

For our purposes, we will use the Title 22 of the US Code, Section 2656f(d), to define terrorism. It defines terrorism as “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents” (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013). Examples of terrorism persist on a near daily basis around the world. Unstable countries, such as Afghanistan and Syria, deal with terrorist attacks on a constant basis. The common thread of these attacks is deliberate targeting of civilian populations in order to achieve political objectives. The best known and largest example are

Prior to 9/11there had been various terrorist attacks on Americans around the world and on American soil. However the events of September 11 intensely changed the United States Government’s approach towards terrorism. After September 11, the Bush Administration changed the previous American approach, which had primarily employed the combined tools of diplomatic cooperation, economic sanctions, and internationally coordinated law enforcement measures (Lee 2007: 137). Instead, the President declared in the aftermath of September 11 that the United States was engaged in a war on terrorism. In this war all terrorists who plotted against the United States and those who supported them were subject to American justice. This new

It has now been fifty-one years since President John F. Kennedy’s (JFK’s) assassination, but there are still several unanswered questions lingering in the minds of the American people. For example, there are a large number of conspiracy theories floating around on the internet describing President Kennedy’s murder, along with mistakes made due to various flawed government agencies. Along with all of the publicity, there are quite a few rumors surrounding President Kennedy’s assassination, however, various articles and books provide factual evidence concluding that several mistakes were made on behalf of the United States secret service, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), and local Dallas, Texas police officers.

November 22nd, 1963: The assassination of President John F. Kennedy is an event in American history that will forever as one of the nation’s darkest days. The brutal murder of the President is seemingly terrible enough, but suspicious decisions of the federal government in regards to investigating the assassination alienated American youths from being able to trust the government, and is partially responsible for the current detachment that many citizens feel towards it. Many things about the assassination do not add up. The President was not given the proper autopsy, Lee Harvey Oswald was the perfect person to be a patsy, and Oswald was caught and killed suspiciously quickly. The next question is, “Who, if not Lee Harvey Oswald, is responsible for Kennedy’s death?”. The answer: The CIA. Kennedy’s administration was obsessed with Cuba, and the CIA was engaging in plots to kill Fidel Castro, which led to the Bay of Pigs crisis that almost launched a nuclear war. This lead Kennedy to resent the CIA and gave him cause to work to disband the organization. This alone is enough of a reason for the CIA to want to oust Kennedy. They only way to truly make that happen was to assassinate him. One may wonder where the evidence for such a claim is, but many are not aware that Lee Harvey Oswald had confirmed contacts within the CIA, the CIA hid what they call a “benign cover-up”,

The report additionally concludes that the “Minister,” or President in the United States’ case, should be, “legally responsible,” for security and intelligence policies in these cases (Born and Leigh 2005). The United States’ system represents this framework in today’s practice as the National Security Act of 1947 and its amendments legislate the authority of the President to approve covert action. Referring once again to the earlier consensus that covet actions belong to the President, the legal responsibility of the executive is

The term “Covert Action” brings with it a connotation of shadowy figures wrapped in secrecy and intrigue. It also brings with it a substantial amount of moral questions as to “what is right.” The use of covert action has been widely publicized since the early seventies, but trying to find out the truth to these events has been difficult to say the least. What is even more difficult, is historically recording these events into categories of successes or failures. These operations are difficult to dissect because of their secrecy and although events have been recorded, some facts simply aren’t apparent. This paper will seek to identify the complex issues associated with covert operations.

Empirical studies of targeted killings and civilian casualties in counterinsurgency and counterterrorism show that drone strikes may obtain either of the following two outcomes:

In order to combat the Terrorist organizations in Middle Eastern countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen, American officials have employed numerous drone strikes on suspected terrorists. In order to determine the targets of such strikes, one of the main strategies used by U.S. has been the use of signature strikes. Signature strikes are drone strikes targeted at individuals or groups that exhibit what U.S. officials deem to fight the profiles or signatures of members of terrorist organizations. The issue with such an ambiguous method of selecting targets for drone strikes is that often it is not known who exactly will be killed, and, as Scott Shane points out, U.S. officials, “often do not know who they are killing, but are making

Opponents argue that by removing one of the key restraints to warfare – the risk to one’s own forces – unmanned systems make undertaking armed attacks too easy and will make war more likely. Evidence is beginning to emerge that it is the persistent presence of UAVs sitting over remote villages and towns simply looking for ‘targets of opportunity’ that may be leading to civilian casualties. The CIA oversees drone strikes as part of counterterrorism operations, but US officials refuse to discuss the program publicly. According to a tally by the nonpartisan New America Foundation, since 2004 there have been more than 260 US drone strikes in Pakistan, which the foundation estimates killed between 1,600 and 2,500 people. Not everyone feels comfortable with all this. Critics say that the legal and

After the events of September 11, 2001, the United States had a unique dilemma. America was engaged in what would be called a “War on Terror”. This new conflict was unlike any in American history. Previously, in the context of war the United States had always fought a nation or group that had defined boundaries as to where they resided. This new conflict went away from these rules of the past. Terrorist groups were not bound to a region, but were instead united by an ideal. September 11 marked the first time in which terrorism would rise to the forefront of the nation’s agenda. This emergent wave of conflict required a different strategy than the those of the past because of the unorthodox nature of the opponent. One of the major innovations fostered by the “War on Terror” was the expansion of torture. The dramatic rise in terrorism sparked the unethical advancement of interrogation techniques in order to more effectively acquire information. The emergence of the “War on Terror” required government officials acquire intelligence in a new way thus spawning the emergence of “enhanced interrogation” methods, however, the morality of these techniques would come into question as they were revealed to the public.