Posted on 10/01/2011 2:06:09 PM PDT by airedale
The American government at the direction of the President targeted and killed an American citizen who was an unlawful combatant and a terrorist. This was a good thing in this case, but it also opened the barn door for the President deciding to kill an American citizen acting as prosecutor, judge, jury and in effect executioner without any judicial review or due process (especially interesting considering the President and his administrations instance on treating other terrorists as common criminals and giving them full due process and civilian trials== until that blew up and the Congress told them they couldn't bring them in to the US from Gitmo for a civilian trial)
Without rules and the force of the Constitution and law this power that Obama has used is open to all kinds of abuse as time goes on. Consider what the administration, Democratic members of Congress and the media have called members of the Tea Party: Terrorists, UN-American, Hostage Takers, Racists, Fascist and lots of other things. They have accused the Tea Party of violence and other illegal activities (all untrue). The same applies to people like Rush Limbaugh. What's to stop Obama from taking action against them? It might not be actually killing them rather interning them like Woodrow Wilson and FDR did. For you Democrats who read this remember you won't always hold the Presidency and the Republican who holds the office will now have apparently unlimited power to kill American citizens without due process.
The Obama administration has refused to give it's legal reasoning and justification on how this action complies with US law and the US Constitution. It's also notable that the MSM that would be screaming if a George Bush had done this and they'd even become more incensed if he refused to release the legal justification for the actions, but this is a Democrat and a god to the MSM so they'll blindly accept it.
Well, perhaps we should empanel a jury made up of George Washington, James Polk, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Dwight Eisenhower, FDR, Harry Truman and George Bush II and ask THEM what they think of exterminating a rotten low-down bastard who was involved in killing fellow American citizens because some half-baked nutty prophet from the 600’s told him to?
BESIDES, ALL Muslims are FIRST and FOREMOST, “citizens” of the Umma, the community of “believers” , NOT the Country they might just happen to reside in at the time.
It is beyond me WHY we are even having a DISCUSSION about this.
Only a totally unhinged nut-job like Ron Paul or somebody with a personal agenda could ever make an issue of such an OBVIOUSLY “correct” decision.
One of the very few from this President.
Al qaeda is essentially a military organization. They ran military training camps in Afghanistan that trained tens of thousands of foot soldiers. The fact that they don't wear uniforms doesn't change that.
The Awlaki case is no different than the following case:
An American-born communist named Al Wachski travels to Southeast Asia in the early 1960s to support the Viet Cong.
He rises in stature to the point where he is leading a cell of Viet Cong communists. He bases himself in Cambodia not far from the Vietnamese border, where he focuses on teaching the Viet Cong the principles of communism and travels from VC camp to VC camp to teach and encourage them in the struggle.
He is involved in planning and exhorting VC foot soldiers to carry out attacks against South Vietnamese and American military personnel. His unit focuses especially on penetrating into Saigon and exploding bombs in crowded civilian marketplaces.
1st Air Cav gets some actionable intelligence on a VC camp where Al Wachski is heading to in Cambodia. They locate him, and a US helicopter strike kills Wachski and the team he is traveling with.
How is this different in any important respect from the al Awlaki situation?
Should they have NOT tried to kill Al Wachski, but instead issued a warrant for his arrest? Should he be tried in absentia in the regular court system back in the United States?
Nevertheless, I do think Zero should release an explanation of the legal reasoning they are using, without disclosing sources and methods.
They don’t allow dual citizenship after naturalization into the US http://www.immihelp.com/citizenship/dual-citizenship-recognize-countries.html. But he was a Yemeni citizen by birth just like a child of two US citizens born anywhere in the world is still a US citizen http://www.yemenembassy.org/consulate/nationality.htm since his father was a Yemeni citizen
Good points. I also thought about how much sympathy a German American nazi would have gotten (none) from me (German roots)in WW2 while acting as an enemy combatant. Tough questions on both sides, a good use to the rear but I think abuse lies ahead.
Maybe we should just suspend elections until we get this cleared up, or perhaps allow Obama to do things on his own and bypass Congress. KIDDING, I'm kidding! Or hyperbolating or sarcasticating or whatever it is called when the left throws something out to test the waters, see what reaction they get from the sheeple.
I’m pretty amuse by all this “Al-Alwaki we hardly knew ye” crap. I’m pretty sure that when you go fight for the other side that our side has the right to kill you. I dislike O as much as anyone but gimme a break!
The legal reasoning about why they could whack a US citizen in a foreign country wouldn’t require the release of sources and methods. Discussing in detail why we knew the guy was scum might, but there is enough public record information that you could prove he was Al Quida and in their leadership as well as some of the actions he was responsible for.
I’m convinced he was scum and a threat but I’m worried about what’s going to escape that barn down the road.
The “American” was on foreign soil - cooperating with the Muzzies.
He was a wonderful target, and I hope that those multiple pieces of him serve to fertilize the land - thereby accomplishing much more than this sorry piece of excrement did whilst living.
As for the ACLU - I only wish you had been out there interviewing him......
I don’t believe that we should target and assasinate US citizens abroad without some kind of due process. Especially people guilty of propaganda crimes. While he may have ties to actual terrorism, he at least deserves a court hearing (even in absencia).
That being said, I probably wouldn’t have even went to war in the middle east. I would have been happier if we had given Blackwater $50 Billion and told them to go over there and kill anyone in sight that may be al quaeda - no questions asked. No respectful burials. Then burn down their houses and especially their Mosques. Put up signs saying that if we hear that a terrorist attended a particular mosque, that it would be destroyed. No matter which mosque! Then they could decide whether they wanna be a terrorist or harbor one. They could decide whether they wanna be personally responsible for destroying Allah’s houses.
But I digress. Just a daydream....
The situational ethics crowd is gonna be all over you for this excellent (and true) post.
I totally agree. And I give credit to the CIA much more than Obama. Obama may not even have been aware of what was happening.
You sound like a founding father. As long as this guy’s been a problem I would think they had taken this case to some secret court. The Blackwater plan, brilliant.
I don’t feel a thing for these two traitors who call themselves American.
Me neither, as long as there's a trial (due process). When was this guy's trial held? Where?
Just keep in mind that crapy napy has put constitutionalists on the terrorist watch list
They are openly talking about creating America's “Arab Spring” where they will officially overturn the constitutional republic and install a the leaders of the “protest” in NYC and around the country to create a “democracy.”
The main anxiety I have today about this as opposed to the history of leftists with this goal, is I believe the GOP would do nothing to stop them in reaching their ultimate goal. Also, a lot of billionaires and CEO’s are yapping about he glory of communist China and are backing them the radical left in overturning our “inefficient” form of government.
Finally, too many new and young Americans have no idea what they are up to and are easily tricked by plays on words and idealistic slogans because they have never learned about the oppression of communism nor the design of and ideology of their own constitutional liberty.
If a US citizen joins a foreign military service, doesn’t he thereby give up his US citizenship?
The punishment for traitors is supposed to be execution.
Obama was 100% right on this. I applaud him. His drone assassinations, or whatever you want to call them, are the only thing he’s doing right. I don ‘t care if this scumbag was wearing U.S. flag underwear. He’s dead- and that’s great.
He chose to become a traitor, he can suffer the consequences.
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