It sure looks like Joe Biden finally got his mojo back. Whatever mojo he had in the first place, that is. Don’t get me wrong. I like Joe Biden, and always have. He’s a straight shooter which is why he’s totally miscast in his current role of Defense Department surrogate.
In an appearance on CBS News Wednesday, the vice president emphasized how crucial he thinks it is to “unite the world” against Iran.
After allegations surfaced Tuesday of a foiled terrorist plot by Iranian government officials that aimed to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., the Department of Justice and now the executive branch of the Obama administration have gone to great lengths to show that there will be hell to pay for an plan to take the life of a Saudi diplomat on American soil.
Mr. Biden was even asked if it were not “an act of war” to stage an assassination on U.S. soil.
Indeed, one can’t help but be reminded of the Navy Seals’ covert operation that led to the taking down of Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil, an act that Pakistani officials widely regarded as violation of their autonomy. But, when asked whether he thought the actions of the U.S.in killing bin Laden on Pakistani was an act of war, Pakistani president Al Zardari stopped short of saying that it was.
How ironic is Biden’s statement on “The Early Show” that Iranians “have not only decided to assassinate someone, they have taken on the basis in which . . . nations deal with one another” in light of U.S. special forces actions in Pakistan and, most recently, in what many consider the extrajudicial execution of al-Awlaki in Yemen. That the Muslim cleric is a U.S. citizen counts, of course, but the bypassing of trials, and due process are what is in question here, not merely the matter of citizenship.
Moreover, what, specifically, does Secretary of State Clinton mean when she tells the Associated Pressthat “this really, in the minds of many diplomats and government officials, crosses a line that Iran needs to be held to account for?”
What kind of example does our government set when we “plot” for two years to take out al-Awlaki, an American citizen, in Yemen, who has been proven to have done nothing more than allegedly conspire with others to attack the United States? And, what line have we crossed?
Is it not considered an act of war when a citizen of a country is killed on foreign soil? If so, then by killing al-Awlaki, we have declared war on ourselves.
Jayne Lyn Stahl is a widely published poet, essayist, playwright, and screenwriter, member of PEN American Center, and PEN USA.
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Forget Wall Street, occupy the world
Posted on October 14, 2011 by Jayne Lyn Stahl
It sure looks like Joe Biden finally got his mojo back. Whatever mojo he had in the first place, that is. Don’t get me wrong. I like Joe Biden, and always have. He’s a straight shooter which is why he’s totally miscast in his current role of Defense Department surrogate.
In an appearance on CBS News Wednesday, the vice president emphasized how crucial he thinks it is to “unite the world” against Iran.
After allegations surfaced Tuesday of a foiled terrorist plot by Iranian government officials that aimed to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., the Department of Justice and now the executive branch of the Obama administration have gone to great lengths to show that there will be hell to pay for an plan to take the life of a Saudi diplomat on American soil.
Mr. Biden was even asked if it were not “an act of war” to stage an assassination on U.S. soil.
Indeed, one can’t help but be reminded of the Navy Seals’ covert operation that led to the taking down of Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil, an act that Pakistani officials widely regarded as violation of their autonomy. But, when asked whether he thought the actions of the U.S.in killing bin Laden on Pakistani was an act of war, Pakistani president Al Zardari stopped short of saying that it was.
How ironic is Biden’s statement on “The Early Show” that Iranians “have not only decided to assassinate someone, they have taken on the basis in which . . . nations deal with one another” in light of U.S. special forces actions in Pakistan and, most recently, in what many consider the extrajudicial execution of al-Awlaki in Yemen. That the Muslim cleric is a U.S. citizen counts, of course, but the bypassing of trials, and due process are what is in question here, not merely the matter of citizenship.
Moreover, what, specifically, does Secretary of State Clinton mean when she tells the Associated Press that “this really, in the minds of many diplomats and government officials, crosses a line that Iran needs to be held to account for?”
What kind of example does our government set when we “plot” for two years to take out al-Awlaki, an American citizen, in Yemen, who has been proven to have done nothing more than allegedly conspire with others to attack the United States? And, what line have we crossed?
Is it not considered an act of war when a citizen of a country is killed on foreign soil? If so, then by killing al-Awlaki, we have declared war on ourselves.
Jayne Lyn Stahl is a widely published poet, essayist, playwright, and screenwriter, member of PEN American Center, and PEN USA.