New Clear Vision

Human Rights and Moral Principles Reject Extra-Judicial Killings

by Jerry Elmer

In early 1998, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan), Mary Jo White, convened a grand jury; and, on June 10, 1998, the grand jury handed up a criminal indictment against a certain man who was, then, a fugitive from justice.  The eight-page indictment alleged several serious federal felonies.  Some years later a successor grand jury expanded the original indictment; it grew to 29 pages, and alleged many criminal violations, including capital crimes.  The alleged criminal remained a fugitive.

In August 2010, President Obama came to believe that he knew the whereabouts of the indicted, but untried, man.  The President did not have the fugitive arrested so that he could be tried on the criminal charges pending against him (as the law requires).  Instead, the President resorted to a hit squad — a group of heavily armed men that went after the indicted, but untried, individual. (more…)

What Celebrating bin Laden’s Death Reveals About Ourselves

by Caty Gordon

In the wake of the announcement that Osama bin Laden has been killed by US forces, his life and death (both saturated in controversy) merit reflection.  He proudly laid claim to killing nearly 3000 people in a single day, and openly touted his financial and military support for numerous other attacks on humankind. The man lived with the intent to oust any person or regime that threatened his goals of a dogmatic Islamic government and a Middle East free of American-sponsored dictators and military occupations. He even penned a fatwa in which he prescribed the killing of Americans as a duty of all Muslims. Bin Laden has also come to exemplify all that is evil about Arabs and Muslims in the corporate American media.  So it is understandable that Americans would react strongly to the news of his death. (more…)