For purposes of this assignment, you are to assume that you are the

For purposes of this assignment, you are to assume that you are the national Security Advisor to President John Patrick Ryan.

President Ryan has decided to order the assassination of the President of the Republic of Iratistan, a small country in between Kazakhstan and Dagestan for providing training and material support for a plan to simultaneously destroy seven (7) airliners on approach to JFK international Airport.

Your assignment is to prepare a Memorandum to the President (for practical purposes, it should be directed to his Chief of Staff), seven (7) to eight (8) pages in length, which analyzes the legal and political consequences of President Ryan’s decision.  To assist you in drafting this memorandum, the following a sources are attached:

Executive Order 12333 (2008);

A Report by the Congressional Research Service entitled “Assassination Ban and E.O. 12333:  A Brief Summary.”  (January 4, 2002); and

A Memorandum of Law entitled “Memorandum of Law:  Executive Order 12333” (The Army Lawyer, December 1989).

Your memorandum must include the following sections:

§  A Statement of Fact;

§  A discussion of the Legal Arguments, both pro and con for the proposed action;

§  A discussion of the Political Considerations; and

A Conclusion endorsing a particular course of action.