The Killing Business

Trey Smith

This new US military doctrine based on sophisticated intelligence and secret homicide raids virtually anywhere is growing at a time our military is linking more and more with local, domestic police agencies. This phenomenon has the potential for serious civil liberties abuse. National borders are fading and life is becoming more and more globalized; burgeoning communications technologies ironically make us less socially cohesive. Add economic, religious and political polarization to the mix and the symbiosis between the military and local police becomes quite scary.
~ from Americans Love a Good Killer by John Grant ~

I can remember the news reports coming out of South and Central America in the 60s, 70s and 80s. We were told that Death Squads were responsible for countless atrocities that resulted in the deaths of thousands. The presence of these squads caused untold amounts of intimidation and fear.

When Americans heard these reports, we would shake our heads and say, "That's what you get with a ruthless dictatorship." We believed that our democratic system and structure made us morally superior. A Death Squad couldn't and wouldn't operate in the USA for long.

And yet, under the Obama administration, the Death Squad has been lifted to a place of glorification. Of course, we don't call these units Death Squads, but that is what they are. A Death Squad killed Osama bin Laden. US Death Squads have killed other members of al-Qaeda and may be responsible for the deaths of several Iranian nuclear scientists.

Even if you think all of these figures deserved death, I think it should still bother you that their killings were carried out by a hit team of assassins. As John Grant points out, "our military is linking more and more with local, domestic police agencies." Since Death Squads seem to be so successful outside of our national borders, it is certainly not inconceivable that, at some point under this or a future president, they could be unleashed within our borders.

If that happens, how are we genuinely different from those dictatorships in South and Central America?