The reason given is that these people are designated 'enemy combatants' or 'terrorists' so a different set of rules apply to them†. Effectively since this is a

The reason given is that these people are designated 'enemy combatants' or 'terrorists' so a different set of rules apply to them†. Effectively since this is a War on Terror and because terror can come from anywhere and strike anywhere the entire planet is a battlefield because the reach of the US military and paramilitary apparatus is global. Glenn Greenwald has written[1] many excellent articles about this long before Mr. Snowden came along. Once the whole world is a battlefield then everyone is on the field of battle. Interestingly enough it takes congress to declare war so in effect what we've had here is a very blatant power grab[2], an invocation of emergency procedures in the name of National Security. How aptly the National Security Agency seems named now, don't you think. Obviously there is the TIDE[3] list that gets people restricts their right of travel (no-fly lists - (I wonder does this cover getting on a boat or is it just that specific mode of international travel - (thank you for reading this far))). But there must also be a shorter "these people are really bad and must be taken out list" and that's what these people are on. Modulo the odd innocent bystander, and error be it human operator or machine or intelligence. So it's not murder, it's 21st century warfare and these are the enemy. That doesn't mean it doesn't stink to high hell. And if they was any justice in the world the people who set up and enable these unjust extra-judicial killings with there oh so pat cover story and layers and layers of secrecy upon secrecy would get their just desserts in turn. [1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/05/obama-kill-list-doj-memo http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/05/obama-ki... [2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-wolf/ten-steps-to-close-down-a_b_46695.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-wolf/ten-steps-to-close-... [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorist_Identities_Datamart_Environment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorist_Identities_Datamart_E... † it's not 'murder' when they do it