Last month an American citizen, Kamal Derwish, was killed by the CIA in Yemen. The CIA made it clear his death, though not planned, was an acceptable outcome due to his alleged ties to al Qaeda officials.
The event received little attention at the time, yet it raised questions about the constitutionality of killing American citizens in the war on terror, particularly citizens who were never tried or even indicted.
A Tuesday Associated Press report, however, revealed that President Bush has indeed granted this authority to the CIA under a secret measure that allows them to target all suspected al Qaeda agents working overseas, regardless of nationality. Americans are not exempt.
Although past presidential authorizations to use covert action also allowed for wartime killing of Americans fighting on a battlefield for the other side, this one proves to be particularly troublesome. The U.S. government could kill an American citizen working or living in any country outside the United States.
Perhaps the most unsettling aspect about Bush's under-the-table measure is the lack of attention and outrage it has received in response. America has always tried to put itself on the moral high-ground in terms of its guarantees of due process to its citizens. This new policy threatens to make those claims nothing more than idle boasts.
If American citizens overseas can be killed without due process, it takes only a small leap to conclude that American citizens living in the United States might be next.
This measure is another in a series of liberty-reducing actions that are now simply accepted without protest. The war on terror should not be used as an excuse to take away constitutionally granted rights.
