Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?

Why, if it prosper, none dare call it treason.

–Sir John Harrington

The expansion of American law relating to terrorism since 9/11 has been staggering, primarily ensconced in the Patriot Act and the National Defense Authorization Act. Those who have exposed the crimes of the American empire (Manning, Snowden, et. al.) have been branded traitors and charges have been brought under the Espionage Act. The most common rationale one hears for such prosecutions is that the acts of the whistleblowers have aided “the enemy”.

But what happens when President Obama aids the enemy? Will we as a nation insist that the President should also be subject to the law? Are we a nation of laws, or corrupt banana republic which only enforces the law against those powerless to resist?

At issue here is the Syrian conflict. “The rebels” are a diverse bunch, but include members of al- Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, and other groups. In fact, as many as half of the rebel fighters are jihadists or Islamic extremists, and the bulk of the effective fighting force is now allied with al-Qaeda. In case you don’t know, al-Qaeda is the primary terrorist group that the national security establishment has been warning us for the past decade or so means to do us harm and we are currently waging the Global War on Terror™ on al-Qaeda and their affiliated groups.

With this in mind, providing support to the rebels becomes a violation of American law. Under the Patriot Act 18 USC § 2339B(a)(1) reads as follows:

Whoever knowingly provides material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both, and, if the death of any person results, shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life.

So given that we have provided support for the al-Qaeda rebels in the form of training, intelligence, and now actively arming the rebel groups, and the death of a person has resulted from that, it appears that President Obama has violated the Patriot Act. In fact, under the NDAA (2012), it appears that President Obama is subject to indefinite detention under the provisions of section 1021: