America Run Amok

Former CIA Director Michael Hayden confesses he thinks whistle-blower Edward Snowden should be put on the presidential “kill list.” Meanwhile in the nation’s capital, police shoot to death a young mother who was driving recklessly.

Anyone who criticizes U.S. intelligence agencies for their systematic snooping or reveals Washington’s “top secrets” belongs on the kill list as well. At the beginning of the week, German writer Ilija Trojanow was denied entry into the United States. He was not given any reason for the denial, but the reason is obvious: Trojanow has been critical of the obsession with security in both the U.S. and the European Union. In collaboration with Juli Zeh, he authored a book entitled “Attack on Freedom: Security Paranoia, the Surveillance State and the Dismantling of Civil Rights.” This summer, both authors filed a petition asking the German government to explain its reaction to U.S. security’s handling of Snowden’s whistle-blowing.

As the European Union parliament considers nominating Snowden for a human rights award for his writing, the former CIA and National Security Agency (NSA) chief thinks about putting his name on a list of potential assassination targets. According to media reports, during a panel discussion on cybersecurity hosted by The Washington Post, Hayden said, “I must admit, in my darker moment over the past several months, I’d also thought of nominating Mr. Snowden, but it was for a different list.” His reference was to so-called presidential “kill lists” that contain the names of potential assassination targets. Under Barack Obama, the kill list was redesignated the “disposition matrix” and continued. According to reports, the president reviews the list weekly. Hayden explained and justified this official government hit list by saying, “Assassinations are forbidden by executive order,” adding, “We don’t do assassinations.” But he made an exception for “targeted killings against enemy combatants” because the nation is at war.

According to media reports, Hayden provoked a good deal of whispering and laughter in the audience with his murder fantasies. Republican Congressman Mike Rogers jumped on the allusion to kill lists, saying, “I can help you with that.” On previous occasions, Hayden declared Snowden to be arrogant, saying, “I suspect he will end up like most of the rest of the defectors who went to the old Soviet Union: Isolated, bored, lonely, depressed — and most of them ended up alcoholics.” Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian reporter who reported on the NSA leaks story, declared Hayden’s assassination “joke” to be psychopathic.

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., security personnel shot a 34-year-old mother to death following a high-speed car chase through the government district. According to officials, the woman rammed into a security barrier in her black automobile and raced toward congressional buildings with her one-year-old daughter in the back seat. She struck one security guard near the White House, injuring him. Police opened fire on the vehicle, killing the driver. The baby wasn’t injured in the incident. The motive for which remains a mystery. The only certainty: The woman was unarmed.