Suspected pipe-bomb terrorist Luke J. Helder should be counting his lucky stars that he was captured by the American police before the U.S. military could intervene. Just ask Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who was recently the target of a missile fired by CIA forces in Afghanistan.
Even though Hekmatyar was not part of the Taliban or al-Qaeda, he has nevertheless been labeled a terrorist by U.S. officials. Why? Well, as one Pentagon official put it, We had information that he was planning attacks on American and coalition forces, on the interim government, and on Karzai himself.
So there you have it U.S. government justice in the war on terrorism. No probable cause. No warrant issued by an independent judge. No arrest. No grand jury indictment. No trial. No conviction. No appeals. Just, Hey, weve got (confidential) information that that guy intends to commit a crime and thats good enough for us. We dont need no warrants, lawyers, judges, trials, or constitutional technicalities. Fire that missile, boys, and lets make the world a little bit safer by taking out one more suspected terrorist.
| Jacob G. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. |