Jacob Sullum on Obama's Executive Power Grabs

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.