Posted on 10/03/2011 10:32:55 AM PDT by Captain Kirk
The killing on Friday of Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen described as a powerful al-Qaeda terrorist, has stirred considerable debate about whether it's appropriate for a president to order an American assassinated.
Evidently, Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain shares those concerns.
The above video was recorded just after the first nationally televised GOP presidential debate of the 2012 campaign cycle, held in Greenville South Carolina on May 5 of this year, according to its YouTube page.
"He should be charged. And since he's an American citizen, he should be tried in our courts," Cain said of al-Awlaki. When asked if he considered it legal for President Obama to order al-Awlaki killed, Cain said, "In his case, no, because he's an American citizen."
It has been known since early 2010 that the CIA and the U.S. military's special-operations division maintain kill lists with three to four Americans on them. Al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born cleric, was on the list. He was reportedly killed in Yemen on Friday in a U.S. drone and jet strike. A classified Department of Justice memo authorized the killing, The Washington Post reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
“He should stick at running a Pizza company. Running for Presidency is way over his head. Are we seriously going to consider voting for someone to be President, the most powerful job in the world, when he has never ran for an elected office before? Wake up people.”
With all due respect, I believe that premise is what the founding fathers based the constitution.
The notion that a “pedigree” of elected office or of privileged education(Ivy League) is what is destroying this nation.
I don’t care WHO it is, but “INNOCENT until proven guilty” for American citizens, no ifs or buts. Why you ask? Because I don’t trust any big government telling me “just because”.
Try renouncing your citizenship and stop paying taxes. Bet it doesn’t work.
I’m afraid that I do not trust the U.S. govt and I certaintly do not trust the current administration.
“We should also keep in mind who is the person ordering the military strikes. What is best for the U.S. isnt always on the mind of the CinC that is currently occupying the WH.”
Yep. That’s why I thought it was the dumbest thing we could have done.
ALMOST AS STUPID AS THAT DUMB SOB IN THE WH.
PLEASE DON’T REPORT ME TO ATTACK WATCH!
I never said we were.
Well, a Yemeni judge ordered him captured dead or alive. We helped out. He was a criminal traitor who deserved killing. If we could have captured him without endangering the lives of U.S. servicemen, I would have said yes. But we did the next best thing. No tears shed here.
Constitution is not a suicide pact. Asking law enforcement to try to arrest and mirandize a guy like this in the mountains of Yemen is just not reasonable. He pretty plainly renounced his citizenship and went to war with his former country. Treating al-Awlaki as any other terrorist leader and killing him was the right thing to do in my opinion. If asked about this again, I'd bet Cain retreats as fast as possible and sanctions his death.
Now on what basis are you going to make the judgment whether Cain would be a good President or not? The only judgment that you are making on Cain is what he is SAYING, i.e. TALK, TALK, and more TALK, and you are not judging him on actions because he has none, and please spare me the joke that being a CEO of a Pizza company is a qualification for becoming President. There is no doubt that the fringes always care about TALK and RED MEAT rhetoric rather than actual actions.
Do you have a link? I’d like to hear from Cain himself rather than media’s version.
If he did change his mind, it’s possible it’s because he has more information. He has been getting regular briefings from foreign policy experts since he made his first statement.
If he’s okay with it now, well, I’ll just have to disagree with him on that.
The more I think about it, the more I agree with Cain and crazy Ron Paul. We should not kill American citizens at the whim of the President or the public (even if he or she deserves it). Obama is not king and we are not ruled by a mob.
Protection from the government should always be respected. This time, it was easy. Who will be the next target that Obama or some other fascist/communist believes should die?
Amend the Constitution and allow the Federal courts to strip citizenship of those that aid foreign enemies of the United States during wartime. And then write a real Declaration of War against Al-Qaida and allied countries.
I would sooner report myself than to report you, and I would NOT report myself. LOL. I would like to report Obozo to attack watch, but it’s doubtful that would do anything but get me flagged.
And, yet, thanks directly to Awlaki, American citizens and U.S. soldiers are dead. If I conspire with peoplem, who then commit the acts which cause other people's deaths, I am just as responsible for those deaths. Bin laden did not directly kill any Americans that we know of. Yet, he was dispatched. There was no trial for Bin laden. If I'm correct, traitors during the Revolutionary War, Civil War, War of 1812, and likely both WWI and WWII were also killed, and not always with a trial. Thus, I must ask, what is your point? Some on this thread have argued Awlaki should have been captured so as to obtain intelligence information from him. I can understand this argument. I am unsure of what point it is you're trying to make with your position that Awlaki did nothing but conspire.
I agree that the Constitution is not a suicide pact. As stated earlier I have mixed thoughts on this matter. I like the idea of killing types like al-Awlaki, but am made uneasy by the idea of obama types with their finger on the trigger or any modern politician for that matter.
But can't you ever see a scenario where the government creates a setting to set up someone because they can or they want? Government should never be in a power perch position to decide which American it wants to kill, no questions asked, no questions to follow, no nuisance checks. It is a dangerous precedence. It takes all our rights AS AMERICANS, all of us, away. In my view it's never worth it, no.
al-Awlaki is NOT an American citizen.
Bin Laden is not an American - he is not ensured the rights of the Constitution.
Awlaki could have had his citizenship revoked or been tried and found guilty in absentia.
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