President Barack Obama’s policy regarding people
linked to terrorism is clear, observes Senior Editor Jacob Sullum:
They are to be treated like criminal defendants with constitutional
rights, except when they are treated like enemy soldiers in the
heat of battle, subject to death dealt from a distance. Although
this flexibility has obvious advantages in waging the never-ending
war on terrorism, Sullum writes, it also threatens to transform the
elected executive of a republic into a dictator with summary
execution power.