| A little more than a week ago, President Obama ordered, and the US government executed, a drone strike in Yemen that killed Muslim Cleric and avowed Al Qaeda terrorist leader Anwar al-Awlaki.
Awlaki was infamous for being an American citizen, and the mastermind of numerous attacks against the United States in the name of Al Qaeda.
Although the Congressional leadership of both parties have supported this strike, some limited leaders and pundits on both the left and right have been critical.
From the left, MSNBC host Rachael Maddow and several ACLU leaders have questioned the legality of this action based on the fact that al-Awlaki was a US citizen.
From the far right, Republican/Libertarian Ron Paul has gone further, stating:
• "It's pretty clear that you can't take a life without due process of law, especially of an American citizen, ....We've never had a policy that said we can put somebody on an assassination list by a secret tribunal." Paul said Obama should have ordered al-Awlaki's arrest and brought him to trial in the United States. Paul has even suggested that Obama could be impeached for ordering the killing of an American citizen, "I think it's an impeachable offense,"
This morning the New York Times reported the detailed legal analysis the Obama Administration performed prior to the ordering the killing of al-Awlaki: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10...
For me, as a former Naval Officer, what Paul and Maddow are missing is that (1) Al Qaeda has declared war on the United States and backed it up with repeated and numerous attacks, killing thousands of Americans; (2) al-Awlaki has openly declared himself to be a member of Al Qaeda; (3) al-Awlaki has been limked to numerous attacks on the US, including the Fort Hood killings, and (4) Congress has authorized the use of force against Al Qaeda.
This war is different than most of our prior wars - the lack of uniformed fronts, etc... There are valid arguments against the wisdom and facts of expanding the war to include Iraq, which are not addressed here.
However, there is simply no doubt that Al Qaeda attacked the USA and that the Congress authorized military action in a de facto declaration of war. To most Americans it is permissible in a time of war to kill an openly announced member of the enemy who is actively planning attacks on the United States.
While there are reasons to insure that the use of military force be within the bounds of law, it seems clear that the Obama administration has gone through the difficult steps of doing so. Certainly these actions were legal. |
