Legal memo from Obama DOJ okays assassination of US citizens

NBC News' Michael Isikoff this week released a 16-page "white paper" (PDF) prepared by the Obama Department of Justice that effectively justifies the president's power to target even Americans for assassination without due process.

In the NYT, an analysis.

The unsigned and undated Justice Department "white paper," obtained by NBC News, is the most detailed analysis yet to come into public view regarding the Obama legal team's views about the lawfulness of killing, without a trial, an American citizen who executive branch officials decide is an operational leader of Al Qaeda or one of its allies.

Elsewhere, Glenn Greenwald writes in a Guardian op-ed why this is bad news for America, even those of us not on a "kill list."