From Boston Globe: US weighs how far to go to preempt attackers:

Senator John F. Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, said that while he does not favor elimination of the assassination ban, he believes that it should be modified to permit the killing of individuals, such as terrorists or drug kingpins, who are jeopardizng national security. ''I see it as a self-defense issue,'' Kerry said.

The honorable Senator can be reached at john_kerry@kerry.senate.gov, phone: 202-224-2742, fax: 202-224-8525

Here's the letter I sent:

From: Craig Lee Burket craig@burket.net
To: Senator John F. Kerry john_kerry@kerry.senate.gov
Date: December 3, 2001
Subject: Killing individuals who are jeopardizing national security

I am one of your constituents, and I have voted for you in the past. I read the following in the November 27 edition of the Boston Globe, in an article titled "US weighs how far to go to preempt attackers", by Stephen Kurkjian:

Senator John F. Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, said that while he does not favor elimination of the assassination ban, he believes that it should be modified to permit the killing of individuals, such as terrorists or drug kingpins, who are jeopardizng national security. "I see it as a self-defense issue," Kerry said.

I have some questions:

- how do you reconcile support for a ban on assassination with support for "killing of individuals"? By "assassination" do you mean "killing of politicians"?

- how exactly do you define "drug kingpin" and "jeopardizing national security"?

- would this apply only to foreign nationals, or are there situations where you could envision killing individual U.S. citizens?

- who would decide which individuals are to be killed? Would a judge issue a "death warrant" in each case? Would there be a trial (or military tribunal) beforehand? Could the president simply issue an executive order?

- should countries other than the United States (e.g., Afghanistan, Burma, China, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria) adopt similar laws, which might then be applied to the killing of U.S. citizens who are judged to be jeopardizing their national security? If not, why not?

Please reply in writing, preferrably via email to craig@burket.net, at your earliest convenience.

Thank you.

Craig Lee Burket