Resolution On Extrajudicial Executions

(Adopted by unanimous vote of the National Committee on August 10, 2010)

Whereas, both the Bush and the Obama administrations have proclaimed the government's right to assassinate and/or execute individuals off the field of battle, whether they be citizens of the United States or foreign persons, if the Executive or his subordinates deem such persons to be enemies of the United States and posing a danger to it; and

Whereas, these executions are to be carried out by CIA operatives, so-called "Special Ops" forces, or regular personnel of the United States Armed Services; and

Whereas, many such "targeted executions" have already been carried out by remote controlled weaponry, including unmanned drone aircraft and missile attack, and

Whereas, the Administration has claimed the right to carry out such executions in any country on the face of the globe, whether such country is in a state of declared war with the United States or not; and

Whereas, the Administration has engaged in this conduct without judicial review or warrant from a court of law, and without any legitimate adversarial finding of the guilt of the targeted victims;

Therefore Be it Resolved by the America First National Committee:

That the intentional extra-judicial killing of any person off the field of battle and outside of direct combat action, where such person does not pose a direct and immediate threat to life or limb, is an act of deliberate murder and is condemned by this body, and ought to be condemned by every decent and honorable person; and

That all such dishonorable conduct has been held to be a war crime by the United States Government since at least the mid-19th Century, and that, according to the Lieber Code Section 148:

The law of war does not allow proclaiming either an individual belonging to the hostile army, or a citizen, or a subject of the hostile government an outlaw, who may be slain without trial by any captor, any more than the modern law of peace allows such international outlawry; on the contrary, it abhors such outrage. The sternest retaliation should follow the murder committed in consequence of such proclamation, made by whatever authority.

That the Executive Branch of the United States Government, under both Presidents Bush and Obama, has been engaged in barbaric murder on a large scale by authorizing and carrying out such extra-judicial killings during the past decade; and

That no claim of Executive Authority, Qualified Immunity, or the Power to Wage War in defense of the Nation, can overcome the blood-guiltiness of the President and his agents, whether in or outside of the military; and

That these actions, as well as the conspiracy to organize and commit them, constitute criminal conduct under Federal Law and under the Law of War, which must be brought to justice, even if the President himself is implicated; and

That the extra-judicial murder of American Citizens, even if they have been declared Enemies by the Executive, are in addition repugnant to the 5th Amendment to the Constitution, which provides that no person may be deprived of life without due process of law; and

That the murder of American citizens under the claim that they are enemies of the United States is expressly barred by Article III Section 3 of the Constitution, which defines the crime of Treason and requires conviction in a court of law before any punishment may be meted out; and

That the Executive's declaration of the right to assassinate American citizens constitutes a conspiracy to commit murder, and to breach the 5th Amendment and Article III Section 3; and

That we call for the impeachment of any officer of the United States, including the President, who has participated in such conspiracy or actually carried out such murders, these actions being high crimes and misdemeanors; and

That we call for the investigation, indictment, arrest, prosecution, and conviction of the President and every agent of the government who has participated in these barbarities or in the conspiracy to commit them.