Letters of Marque and Reprisal
by digby
I hadn’t heard of this before I saw this:
It’s an interesting end-run around using state power, for sure. But I’m not sure how it comports with the liberal value of sparing the lives of innocent Muslims or how bounty hunting comports with our reflexive recoil at the idea of assassinations.
I’m sure Blackwater would have been happy to take the job though and I’m sure it would have been much less expensive. As we know, private contracting always saves money.
*Disclaimer: I agree with Ron Paul about ending the American Military Empire, the federal surveillance apparatus and the drug war and believe that it’s a positive thing to discuss in an election campaign. I wish there were more politicians who did it and I support more of them doing that in the future. If it were up to me, states and localities would likewise be prevented from using surveillance, abusing police powers and imprisoning people for drug use.
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