Will the U.S. Govt Target Whistleblowers With Drones?Yes, things have come this far. There is open talk of killing NSA leaker Edward Snowden via a drone strike. Remember that saying Dont kill the messenger? This is the ultimate form of doing just that. There is open talk in the media of killing National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden via a drone strike. Truthstream Media reporters Melissa Melton and Aaron Dykes discuss this apathetic acceptance of government assassination of American citizens: Not only did these PopSci writers discuss limiting collateral damage and drone strike logistics such as speed and strike range, but the gamut also included whether or not China would appreciate such an attack, and Hambling even asked, So why wouldnt the U.S. government just send a guy with a gun to kill Snowden? These articles were apathetically written as if outright federal assassination of anyone who speaks out against the government is so commonplace, its expected. Snowdens constitutional rights or the fact that government assassination of crime suspects would be tantamount to murder were not mentioned even once in either article as reasons why the U.S. shouldnt go around drone striking American citizens. Scarier still is the fact that the idea itself is plausible enough to garner such casual banter. The thought of permanently silencing dissenters through targeted strikes would not only eliminate embarrassing disclosure from government employees and contractors like Edward Snowden, but it would effectively freeze free speech by intimidating anyone else from coming forward, all while skirting the real issue at hand (in this case systematic, wholesale spying on Americans by the NSA). This all came days before Snowden was even charged albeit ironically with espionage for reporting on the illegal surveillance of the NSA, which has been going on openly since shortly after 9/11. In our bizarre new reality, the systematic criminality of the government is a blas fact of life, but those who would dare to uncover, spotlight and quantify this fact are considered criminal, and even treasonous. It doesnt take a genius to realize that such unwarranted spying is not compatible with a free society, and that the counter-terrorism and national security rationales for concealing the scope of the PRISM program and others like it are insufficient such secrets are not worth keeping. Curbing government abuse and protecting the privacy of the populace, on the other hand, remains a worthwhile goal, even in the age of metadata. Regardless, even if Snowdens actions had been clear-cut crimes, his flight to Hong Kong poses no imminent danger, so the very thought of taking lethal action defies the basic common law spirit and protections of the Constitution and Bill of Rights which have been so readily degraded in this country. Ron Paul was the first (former) public official to voice his concerns that Snowden could hypothetically become the target of a drone attack. The former Congressman and presidential candidate told Fox News: Im worried about somebody in our government might kill him with a cruise missile or a drone missile. I mean, we live in a bad time where American citizens dont even have rights and that they can be killed. But the gentleman is trying to tell the truth about whats going on. I dont think for a minute that he is a traitor. Everybody is worried about him and what theyre going to do and how theyre going to convict him of treason and how theyre going to kill him. But what about the people who destroy our Constitution? What do we think about people who assassinate American citizens without trials and assume thats the law of the land? Thats where our problem is. Indeed, due process has effectively been thrown out the window along with any other rights considered inconvenient to the roaming pseudo-anti-terror apparatus that has occupied the once-free United States. Using the pretext of wider threats and the vague but reaching powers of the National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAA) indefinite detention clause and its concept of a worldwide battlefield as a basis to justify preemptive strikes on dissidents who pose no actual threat is beyond disgusting. Yet as reported before, the Justice Department under Holder considers drones and other actions as useful tools in their kit. The justifications for the supposed legality of striking an American citizen with a drone, even on American soil if the circumstances arise, are already on paper, which will in turn erode the protections in place for other casesand other Americans. AARON DYKES AND MELISSA MELTONcreated TruthstreamMedia.com, where this article first appeared, as an outlet to examine the news, place it in a broader context, uncover the deceptions, pierce through the fabric of illusions, grasp the underlying factors, know the real enemy, unshackle from the system, and begin to imagine the path towards taking back our lives, one step at a time, so that one day we might truly be free linkwithin_text=Related Articles: 