I’m sure they are. I am, too, that this guy is dead. What I am not happy about is having a president that can make himself judge and executioner. We don’t need no stinkin’ laws.
Justice memo authorized killing of Al-Awlaki
The Washington Post reports that a secret Justice Department memo sanctioned the killing of Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who became an al Qaeda propagandist and operational leader.
The document followed a review by senior administration lawyers of the legal issues raised by the lethal targeting of a U.S. citizen. Administration officials told the Post that there was no dissent about the legality of the killing.
The administration has faced criticism - and a legal challenge - over its targeting of Awlaki, who was born in New Mexico to Yemeni parents. The memorandum may represent an attempt to resolve a legal debate over whether a U.S. president can order the killing of American citizens.
With regard to the killing as a counter-terrorism measure, the memo deems, in the words of one officials, “due process in war.”
The killing of a U.S. jihadist
“The administration has tried to make very clear that this was an act of self-defense, that Awlaki was part of not only al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen, but he was the external operations chief. He was ongoing in his plotting against American citizens - not only having done so in the past, but continuing to do so in an imminent way,” said CBS News national security analyst Juan Zarate.
“So based on the rules of self-defense, based on the principles that we’re at war with al Qaeda and the fact that he was a part of the group, self-professed, all of that suggests that it’s lawful and appropriate to go after him and to kill him,” Zarate said.
When asked if the drone attack against a U.S. citizen - in effect, execution without trial - sets a precedent, Zarate said, “It’s a good question - you run the risk of a slippery slope here. I think people are asking very appropriate questions about what the limits of the government’s power can be in terms of going after Americans who are part of al Qaeda, and we’ve seen in the recent past that Americans have formed more and more part of the al Qaeda network - not just Anwar al-Awlaki, but others. There are important questions to ask about what the process is and what the procedures are to determine who is an imminent danger to the United States.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/01/earlyshow/saturday/main20114273.shtml
Should Bin Laden have been captured and tried in an American court? As someone posted on this thread, it really isn’t clear that Al-Awlaki was really an American citizen anyway. I am very glad he’s gone and hopefully that idiot Gaddan (spelling?) will be next.