Re:A Citizen Is Suing the US for Putting Him on the 'Kill List'
by dragonwriter on Thursday July 19, 2018 @03:58PM
(#17569728)
> The logical next step then is drone strikes on US soil? I mean, why not? What's the legal difference?
Because of the way the 9/11 AUMF is crafted, there's no legal difference, just as there would have been no legal difference between bombing Japanese forces in WWII that happened to be found on US soil and bombing then in Japan or some third country.
There are, however, practical and political differences, which is why, e.g. when German unlawful combatants were identified in the US in WWII (after two of them turned themselves in to the FBI, who they had trouble convincing of the reality of the situation, and fingered the rest of the group), the government didn't send an assault force and level the neighborhood, but instead the FBI picked them up (and then handed then over to the military.)
Because of the way the 9/11 AUMF is crafted, there's no legal difference, just as there would have been no legal difference between bombing Japanese forces in WWII that happened to be found on US soil and bombing then in Japan or some third country.
There are, however, practical and political differences, which is why, e.g. when German unlawful combatants were identified in the US in WWII (after two of them turned themselves in to the FBI, who they had trouble convincing of the reality of the situation, and fingered the rest of the group), the government didn't send an assault force and level the neighborhood, but instead the FBI picked them up (and then handed then over to the military.)