Obama's disposition matrix

by Stephen Lendman

Call it elevating Murder, Inc. to a higher level. A Washington Post Special Report discussed America's permanent war agenda.

It includes targeted killings, Obama's secret kill list, global drone wars, and White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan's new rules for war playbook.

Established in 2003, Washington's National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) provides terrorist related information for America's intelligence community. Brennan initially ran the agency. It devised Washington's so-called "disposition matrix." 

If America had a motto it would be war is good, the more wars the better. How else can generals add stars and profiteers cash in big?

Human lives don't matter. Inviolable rule of law principles are trashed. Wealth, power and dominance alone matter. Imagine national policy wanting to destroy humanity to control it. 

Democrat Obama has that in mind and more. Imagine what Romney's planning. Think about it November 6. Voting either major party ticket assures permanent wars, destroying social America, and cracking down hard on resisters.

On October 23, the Washington Post headlined "Plan for hunting terrorists signals US intends to keep adding names to kill lists," saying:

Information came from "dozens of current and former national security officials, intelligence analysts and others...." Evolving US counterintelligence policies are examined. Two follow-up articles are planned.

US special forces death squads operate in 120 or more countries. CIA agents kill globally. US citizens may be targeted at home or abroad. No one anywhere is safe. 

Summary judgment means rule of law principles don't apply. Last spring, Obama appointed himself judge, jury and executioner. Extrajudicial authority is official administration policy. Diktats decide who lives or dies.

Anyone can be targeted anywhere in the world for any reason or none at all. Obama usurped the power of life and death. He's got final kill list authority.

Policy prioritizes killing by drones, death squads, or other means. Only eliminating America's enemies matter. Whether real or imagined makes no difference. 

Targeted victims are people who want to live free from America's imperium. Washington calls them terrorists. Names go on kill lists.

Those around him say killing comes easy to Obama. Waging war on Islam is policy. So is take no prisoners. Counterterrorism is cover for wholesale or retail slaughter. Collateral deaths don't matter.

Post writer Greg Smith said for "the past two years, the Obama administration has been secretly developing a new blueprint for pursuing terrorists, a next-generation targeting list called the 'disposition matrix.' "

It contains names of terrorist suspects, covert plans to eliminate them, and in some cases sealed indictments. Officials interviewed said a "database (being compiled) is designed to go beyond existing kill lists, mapping plans for the 'disposition' of suspects beyond the reach of American drones."

Regardless of whether US wars continue or end, killing America's enemies remains policy. Suspects are guilty by accusation. Due process and judicial fairness are off the table. One unnamed official said:

"We can't possibly kill everyone who wants to harm us. It's a necessary part of what we do....We're not going to wind up in 10 years in a world of everybody holding hands and saying, 'We love America.' "

Smith didn't say plans are to make sure they don't. Peace and stability defeat America's imperium. Violence and instability are essential to advance it.

He also didn't expose Washington's bogus war on terror. At issue is inventing global enemies, waging wars against them, and destroying democratic freedoms in the process. At stake is unchallenged dominance no matter how many corpses it takes to achieve it.

Other omissions including failing to explain coverup is policy. So is aggressive killing in multiple theaters. Mostly civilians are killed. Populations are terrorized. 

At most, only 2% of victims are high-level combatants. Drone attacks are the recruiting tool of choice for militants, and targeted killings violate fundamental international law.

Like his predecessor, Obama claims success. It's always in the eye of the beholder. Bin Laden's alleged killing is cited. No matter that he died naturally in December 2001. Even modern technology can't kill a dead man. Claiming it was staged hokum.

Big plans are being made. "White House counterterrorism adviser John O. Brennan is seeking to codify the administration's approach to generating capture/kill lists, part of a broader effort to guide future administrations through the counterterrorism processes that Obama has embraced."

Strategies to eliminate America's enemies include "extradition requests, capture operations and drone patrols." Summary executions are the method of choice. Why bother with protocol or other procedures when spy in the sky drones kill easily and quickly.

Operators in distant command centers work multiple monitors. They're far from targeted victims. They kill with precision at low cost. For them, remote control killing is like sport. No muss. No fuss. No bloodshed or shredded bodies to view. When work days end, they go home to dinner and relax. Imagine going to work each day for more killing.