[excerpts] It's open season, folks! Wear blaze orange...
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CIA agents licensed to kill Americans who work with terrorists,
officials say

By JOHN J. LUMPKIN, Associated Press
First published: Wednesday, December 4, 2002

WASHINGTON -- American citizens working for al-Qaida overseas can legally be targeted and killed by the CIA under President Bush's rules for the war on terrorism, officials say.

The authority to kill U.S. citizens is granted under a secret finding signed by the President after the Sept. 11 attacks that directs the CIA to covertly attack al-Qaida anywhere in the world. The authority makes no exception for Americans, so permission to strike them is
understood rather than specifically described,these sources said.
...
The Bush administration said the killing of an American in this fashion was legal.

"I can assure you that no constitutional questions are raised here. There are authorities that the President can give to officials," said Condoleezza Rice, Bush's national security adviser, after the attack. "He's well within the balance of accepted practice and the letter of his constitutional authority."
...
Previously, the government's authority to kill a citizen outside of the judicial process has been generally restricted to when the American is directly threatening the lives of other Americans or their allies.

Copyright 2002 Associated Press.