repost - How just 60 words of legal language have blurred the line between war and peace.

author: Matt Kielty and Kelsey Padgett

In the hours after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a lawyer sat down in front of a computer and started writing a legal justification for taking action against those responsible. The language that he drafted and that President George W. Bush signed into law - called the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) - has at its heart one single sentence, 60 words long. Over the last decade, those 60 words have become the legal foundation for the "war on terror."

This hour we pull apart one sentence, written in the hours after September 11th, 2001, that has led to the longest war in U.S. history. We examine how just 60 words of legal language have blurred the line between war and peace.

Podcasts:

http://www.radiolab.org/story/60-words/ (1 hour audio podcast)

In this collaboration with BuzzFeed, reporter Gregory Johnsen tells us the story of how this has come to be one of the most important, confusing, troubling sentences of the past 12 years. We go into the meetings that took place in the chaotic days just after 9/11, speak with Congresswoman Barbara Lee and former Congressman Ron Dellums about the vote on the AUMF. We hear from former White House and State Department lawyers John Bellinger & Harold Koh. We learn how this legal language unleashed Guantanamo, Navy Seal raids and drone strikes. And we speak with journalist Daniel Klaidman, legal expert Benjamin Wittes and Virginia Senator Tim Kaine about how these words came to be interpreted, and what they mean for the future of war and peace.

Produced by Matt Kielty and Kelsey Padgett with original music by Dylan Keefe.

http://www.radiolab.org/story/60-words/

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22.Dec.2016 20:01

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although this is an NPR-produced program and doesn't delve much into the sketchy U.S. government official account of (that single day) 11 September 2001, it is important for highlighting the significance of warmaking 'legislation' and its inherent 'mission creep' which followed in the wake of that day and implementation of USA Patriot Act.

at some future date (given full releases and access to currently suppressed documentation and evidence) the explicit and direct connections between the military coup of 9/11 comprised by that day's events in NYC and DC, along with the subsequent/concomitant

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2016/10/433617.shtml USA Patriot Act, anthrax attacks and other events of late fall 2001 and early 2002 will be completely revealed and understood.

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