Several days ago, Barack Obama issued an executive order allowing an international police agency to operate with unlimited power within the United States, without regard to the US Constitution.
You all know about diplomatic immunity, right? We see it in the movies -- a foreign diplomat can pretty much get away with any crime, because his property can not be seized or searched, and diplomats are subject to a lot of other extra protections under the law. This immunity is part of Constitutional law, enacted by Congress, and extended to foreign governments and certain international organizations. Organizations are covered in particular by the International Organizations Immunities Act (IOIA) passed in 1945.
In 1983, President Ronald Reagan issued Executive Order 12425 adding Interpol, the international police agency, to the list of organizations covered under the IOIA. However, his order excepted certain aspects of the legislation, specifically those regarding search and seizure. Interpol, under Reagan's order, was subject to having all of its records, property, baggage, communications, etc. searched by US police agencies. Citizens could also petition for information under the Freedom of Information Act.
On December 16, 2009, Barack Obama issued Executive Order 13524, amending President Reagan's EO, and removing the exceptions. Interpol can now collect information, evidence or whatever else it wants, and our own agencies can not access that evidence or information. If Interpol prosecutes an American citizen -- even on America soil -- that citizen will not have the ability to see the evidence used for that prosecution, a protection guaranteed citizens by the US Constitution. Because of Obama's order, an international police agency has more authority than the FBI, more authority than the police, more authority than the US Constitution.
By the way, Interpol operates within our own Justice Department, staffed by American citizens. More on this in a moment.
The big question we need to ask ourselves is, why? What motivation could Obama have to give an international police force that kind of authority? What prompted him to amend a working situation that has been in existence for more than a quarter of a century?
In 2008, Obama proposed a "civilian national security force." Many people wondered: Was Obama talking about a police state? A massive government body "just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded" as the military, but without consitutional restraints? That is effectively what Obama has done with the Executive Order that he issued without fanfare in December. American citizens working for Interpol within our own Justice Department now have more police authority than any other agency. They are literally above the law.
Why?
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