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posted by martyb on Friday July 20 2018, @11:01PM   Printer-friendly
from the sue-or-be-suet? dept.

Rolling Stone:

When a U.S. citizen heard he was on his own country’s drone target list, he wasn’t sure he believed it. After five near-misses, he does – and is suing the United States to contest his own execution
...
With Reprieve’s help, Kareem did what the system asks a law-abiding American citizen with a grievance to do. He sued, filing a complaint in district court in Washington, D.C., on March 30th, 2017, asking the U.S. government to take him off the Kill List, at least until he had a chance to challenge the evidence against him.

The case, still unresolved more than a year later, has awesome implications not just for Kareem but for all Americans – all people everywhere, for that matter.

It’s not a stretch to say that it’s one of the most important lawsuits to ever cross the desk of a federal judge. The core of the Bill of Rights is in play, and a wrong result could formalize a slide into authoritarianism that began long ago, but accelerated after 9/11.

He needs to take the matter to Information Retrieval, but heaven help him if he doesn't get his receipt stamped first.

[Ed note: It's a long read, but provides extensive background on the US government's kill list development, implementation, and complications in trying to do anything about it.]


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by TheGratefulNet on Saturday July 21 2018, @04:15AM (11 children)

    by TheGratefulNet (659) on Saturday July 21 2018, @04:15AM (#710250)

    'serving' by being part of the military is nothing to be proud of, these days.

    the last 'good war' was ww2.

    all of them since that time, that the US was in, have been total wastes of time and lives.

    nothing to be proud of. those who would have you be killed would not even care about you. that's how little the leaders in the US value life.

    I would not go and 'serve'. not unless the US was actually being invaded; and again, has not happened since ww2.

    I know people think they deserve praise for 'serving' but I don't believe in that. it was your choice and that's fine for you, but its nothing honorable. you have been a pawn of the elites and that's all.

    --
    "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
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  • (Score: 5, Touché) by Runaway1956 on Saturday July 21 2018, @04:39AM (6 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday July 21 2018, @04:39AM (#710260) Journal

    You forgot the Cold War, I think. Left unopposed, it is entirely reasonable to believe that Russia would have invaded all of Europe, and possibly the Americas. Cuba was pretty damned ballsy for awhile, when they thought that Russia had their backs.

    • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 21 2018, @05:41AM (5 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 21 2018, @05:41AM (#710287)

      The cold war, where the US overthrew countless democracies throughout the world and installed bloody right-wing dictators? Where the US was complicit in the torture of thousands and the murder of literally millions of innocent people? Yes, surely a high point and something to be proud of for those, in uniform, in service of the rich parasite class.

      The US military is the last surviving welfare program for humans in the US with the added benefit that they can be deployed against their brothers in other countries to put down any challenge to the rich parasite class rule. The proper response when admitting treachery against your brothers is not pride, but shame.

      • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday July 21 2018, @07:29AM (4 children)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday July 21 2018, @07:29AM (#710307) Journal

        Jesus Christ, you're blind. Consider one country - just one, out of dozens - where the US supported that country's regime, and opposed all of those around it. Israel. How did Israel figure into the larger geopolitical picture? And, how did Israel's neighbors fit into the Cold War? You DO realize that the Cold War was between two superpowers, and that almost every other power in the world was being used as a pawn, or at the least, one of the powers was trying to use every other nation as a pawn? Now - how did Israel fit into this power struggle?

        Try not to make a complete and utter fool of yourself with your answer.

        • (Score: 2) by loonycyborg on Saturday July 21 2018, @11:51AM (3 children)

          by loonycyborg (6905) on Saturday July 21 2018, @11:51AM (#710369)

          What does it have to do with Israel? They did everything on their own taking advantage of lack of unity in "arab world" and their lack of will to fight. However, Chile, Kongo and Iran were negatively affected by US and British pointless meddling and killing of prominent politicians there. They used communist scare as justification, but for them being communist is equivalent to not agreeing with them even potentially for any reason, thus it's basically arbitrary.

          • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday July 21 2018, @12:14PM (2 children)

            by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday July 21 2018, @12:14PM (#710381) Journal

            It has much - very much - to do with Israel. Israel willingly became a US satellite, while much of the surrounding Arab world became Soviet clients. Almost all the world's borders today are an assemblage of Soviet vs US influence. Look to Eastern Europe - most of the old nationalities are meaningless, compared to US vs Soviet influence. We commonly talk about "Western Europe" and "Eastern Europe". Look at Korea. Don't forget about China. As intelligent as Chairman Mao and his staff were, they were still just tools in the hands of the Soviet. Everywhere in the world that communism has popped up marks a victory (however major or minor) of the Soviet over America.

            Israel would probably be a power in it's own right, in the world of post-WW2. Having rejected communism, and sided with the US/UK, Israel assured their place as a regional power.

            Damned near everything in the world geopolitical scene that has happened after WW2, right up until the mid-80's or so revolved around the US and the Soviet. The Islamic revolution in Iran? What on earth did you THINK motivated all the stupidity, starting with Operation Ajax? The US felt that it didn't have enough influence over Iran's legitimate government, so it installed a puppet - and the Soviet aided the ayatollahs who let the revolution.

            Think outside the MSM box. Israel was an important tool in the Cold War, or an important ally, depending on your point of view.

            • (Score: 2) by loonycyborg on Saturday July 21 2018, @01:04PM

              by loonycyborg (6905) on Saturday July 21 2018, @01:04PM (#710397)

              People in middle east and china have significantly different culture and to them those Communism vs Capitalism memes have totally different meaning. Those two notions are essentially part of western neo-religion based on cargo-cult level of understanding of economic science and fetishization of economic concepts, while middle eastern countries merely try to survive and to avoid getting meddled by those communocapitalist whackos. Although I'm from Russia myself I decided to abandon this religion too. And to me this entire conflict just looks like random violence now.

            • (Score: 2) by ilPapa on Sunday July 22 2018, @03:28AM

              by ilPapa (2366) on Sunday July 22 2018, @03:28AM (#710657) Journal

              Israel willingly became a US satellite

              You have that backwards.

              And now, we're both client states of Putin's Russian Federation.

              --
              You are still welcome on my lawn.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 21 2018, @05:08AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 21 2018, @05:08AM (#710275)

    WWII was the last declared war the US fought in.

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Saturday July 21 2018, @11:58AM (2 children)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Saturday July 21 2018, @11:58AM (#710373) Journal

    I grew up in a family whose men all served in the military, mostly navy, with a couple in the army. When it came time to think about college I applied to ROTC programs thinking that would be the way to pay for college and do like the others in my family had done. After I had been awarded a couple and chose the University of Chicago, they told me I would have to get on a bus at 4am every morning and travel to the deep South Side, where all fear to go, to I.I.T. to drill. I turned down the scholarship on the spot.

    Since then I have watched one friend who did take an ROTC scholarship at Washington University get endlessly jerked around by the Stop-Loss program, and two others who enlisted after the U. of Chicago found themselves trapped in endless deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq.

    Later I worked for Bill Clinton and had a direct window right into the heart of government and power in the world; those people hold the military in utter contempt, and are quite cavalier about the suffering and pain they cause those soldiers and the devastation they visit upon the people the soldiers are pointed toward.

    All that confirmed that I made the right decision, but I hadn't quite put it into words until you did just now. "Pawn of the elites," is exactly what today's military are.

    Then again, aren't we all, now?

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Saturday July 21 2018, @03:11PM (1 child)

      by TheGratefulNet (659) on Saturday July 21 2018, @03:11PM (#710439)

      it does annoy me (more than that, actually) to see human lives wasted and thrown away, due to the whims of the ultra rich and powerful.

      it boils down to that.

      let that sink in, people. stop giving your lives to richy rich. he would NOT do the same for you.

      don't throw your life away for some dream that isn't real anymore.

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
      • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday July 21 2018, @03:40PM

        by Phoenix666 (552) on Saturday July 21 2018, @03:40PM (#710454) Journal

        There are several facets to why this abuse continues. One is marketing. We techs can definitely kill that one, so let's.

        Another one is material culture. Further to go on that one, but we've got some footholds with 3D printing and skill-sharing via platforms like YouTube and Instructables.

        --
        Washington DC delenda est.