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posted by martyb on Friday April 24 2015, @09:37AM   Printer-friendly

The New York Times reports that President Obama has offered an emotional apology for the accidental killing of two hostages held by Al Qaeda, one of them American, in a United States government counterterrorism operation in January, saying he takes “full responsibility” for their deaths. “As president and as commander in chief, I take full responsibility for all our counterterrorism operations,” including the one that inadvertently took the lives of the two captives, a grim-faced Obama said in a statement to reporters in the White House briefing room.

The White House earlier released an extraordinary statement revealing that intelligence officials had confirmed that Warren Weinstein, an American held by Al Qaeda since 2011, and Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian held since 2012, died during the operation. Gunmen abducted Warren Weinstein in 2011 from his home in Lahore, Pakistan. They posed as neighbors, offered food and then pistol-whipped the American aid worker and tied up his guards, according to his daughter Alisa Weinstein.

The White House did not explain why it has taken three months to disclose the episode. Obama said that the operation was conducted after hundreds of hours of surveillance had convinced American officials that they were targeting an Al Qaeda compound where no civilians were present, and that “capturing these terrorists was not possible.” The White House said the operation that killed the two hostages “was lawful and conducted consistent with our counterterrorism policies” but nonetheless the government is conducting a “thorough independent review” to determine what happened and how such casualties could be avoided in the future.

 
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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by AnonTechie on Friday April 24 2015, @09:54AM

    by AnonTechie (2275) on Friday April 24 2015, @09:54AM (#174587) Journal

    "I take full responsibility for all our counterterrorism operations ... "

    As commander-in-chief, the buck stop with him. He is responsible whether he admits it or not.

    --
    Albert Einstein - "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Ox0000 on Friday April 24 2015, @10:13AM

    by Ox0000 (5111) on Friday April 24 2015, @10:13AM (#174590)

    "I take full responsibility for all our counterterrorism operations ... "
    As commander-in-chief, the buck stop with him. He is responsible whether he admits it or not.

    It's an interesting question though: those elected into power usually get political immunity for acts undertaken during their reign. This is (in most cases) a good thing because not having this would make governing close to impossible. (but that's not the debate I want to have)
    Thus the question becomes: is killing these people a political act and does the president therefore have political immunity from being prosecuted for it?
    If the answer is:
    - no, it isn't political: when can we expect to see the murder trial of Mr. Obama? (What is it? First degree?)
    - yes, it is political: how are we different from countries like North Korea where people are murdered by those in power as well? Is this what the president is saying? We are just like North Korea, Belarus, Cuba, Congo, Rwanda, Venezuela, etc... (I tried to make all continents be represented here)?

    An interesting choice of words, and an interesting choice to be made for the question above...

    And to those saying "but it's an accident, it doesn't count!", explain that to the prosecutor suing you for (for instance) accidentally hitting and killing someone in a car accident.

    • (Score: 4, Informative) by lothmordor on Friday April 24 2015, @10:28AM

      by lothmordor (1522) on Friday April 24 2015, @10:28AM (#174594)

      Exactly on point. I suspect "full responsibility" is more of a platitude than anything else.

      But it was actually four americans killed:

      We also believe two other Americans were recently killed in U.S. Government counterterrorism operations in the same region. We have concluded that Ahmed Farouq, an American who was an al-Qa’ida leader, was killed in the same operation that resulted in the deaths of Dr. Weinstein and Mr. Lo Porto. We have also concluded that Adam Gadahn, an American who became a prominent member of al-Qa’ida, was killed in January, likely in a separate U.S. Government counterterrorism operation. While both Farouq and Gadahn were al-Qa’ida members, neither was specifically targeted, and we did not have information indicating their presence at the sites of these operations.

      I think there is a big problem when we're targeting people to die without knowing who they are or who else may be present. Certainly, these other two should have faced a court trial.

      • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 24 2015, @10:58AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 24 2015, @10:58AM (#174598)

        Not trolling, but honest question. I'm not a US citizen, I don't know much about your history.
        Let's assume that using drones to kill enemies in non-combat situations is an acceptable act of war (big assumption, I know); isn't the killing of US citizens who are members of alqaida the same as the killing of combatants in the civil war?
        Obviously, there are debates to be had about whether or not alqaida members can ever consider themselves to be in a non-combat situation, considering that their enemies cannot (you don't get told that there's a suicide bomber in your street, unless you're part of alqaida yourself).
        But I'd like to know your opinion on the comparison anyway.

        • (Score: 1) by Ox0000 on Friday April 24 2015, @11:23AM

          by Ox0000 (5111) on Friday April 24 2015, @11:23AM (#174602)

          If one is an American citizen or a US person (i.e. on US soil), then the 6th Amendment to the Constitution applies:
          (from In" rel="url2html-25574">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution):

          In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

          That being said, there isn't anything in there that gives you the right to be prosecuted... so err... there... The guys were never prosecuted, so we didn't have to hold a trial... BAM GUILTY!

      • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Friday April 24 2015, @01:01PM

        by Phoenix666 (552) on Friday April 24 2015, @01:01PM (#174621) Journal

        these other two should have faced a court trial.

        Really? That sentiment is so last century and three presidents ago. We have police officers strangling American citizens *not* suspected of terrorism to death on camera, and they're not even indicted much less face a court trial. We have Eric Clapper openly, brazenly lying to Congress (a crime) and nobody says 'boo.' The former Vice President of the United States openly admitted, even crowed, on national television that he ordered the CIA to torture people, and nobody arrested him and sent him to the Hague to stand trial for war crimes. The NSA has violated our Constitutional rights "trillions" of times, and not one single one of them has gone to jail. Those are all people committing crimes on American soil that couldn't even remotely be construed as a war situation, and you still think two Americans who are members of Al-Qaeda should have faced a court trial?

        Now, I agree with you, they should face a court trial. But we are fully past the Rule of Law in this country.

        I may sound like a broken record ticking off that list of things that should face a court trial in America, I know I do to my own ears. But those breaches of our most fundamental and sacred laws cannot be allowed to slide or to be forgotten, because they are that earth-shaking in their importance for everyone, not just Americans.

        I voted for Obama, but at this point he must be impeached and stand trial for his complicity in those and many other crimes. People of all stripes and levels in Washington DC and Wall Street better start going to jail, and post-haste, or bad things will happen.

        --
        Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 24 2015, @01:35PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 24 2015, @01:35PM (#174635)

      And to those saying "but it's an accident, it doesn't count!", explain that to the prosecutor suing you for (for instance) accidentally hitting and killing someone in a car accident.

      That's not the best analogy (not that I disagree with your position). The drone strike wasn't a car drifting out of its designated lane, it was a targeted strike based on false information (the false information being that only terrorists would be present in the strike zone). When you get in your car and drive off, your intent isn't to kill anyone. When the president authorizes a drone strike, his intent is to kill people. And in court, it's mostly about intent.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 25 2015, @01:49AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 25 2015, @01:49AM (#174911)

      "explain that to the prosecutor suing you for (for instance) accidentally hitting and killing someone in a car accident."

      Or what about the get away driver being accused of, essentially, murder, for helping the robber rob the store even though he didn't mean for the robber to shoot the cashier.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by M. Baranczak on Friday April 24 2015, @03:14PM

    by M. Baranczak (1673) on Friday April 24 2015, @03:14PM (#174682)

    When a politician says "I take full responsibility", it means "I don't expect to face any consequences for this".