How do we feel about the Al-Awlaki assassination

This one has been an interesting read.

My own personal opinion on the matter:
It doesn't take a man standing up and saying "I renounce my citizenship". That can be found in his rhetoric. If his rhetoric is death and destruction of all of America, I'd pretty much say that covers it. That eliminates the citizenship issue in my mind. Of course, I don't know many that would worry about "citizenship status" or due process while conducting self defense. Eliminate the threat first, and we can talk about it later. Whether on a street here in the US or at the Strategic level. No doubt he was a threat. Creating the lone wolfs is the same as pulling a trigger. He is a different kind of bomb builder. He build mind bombs that go off and kill Americans. Murderer, just the same. Casualty of war... pity.

Some were correct in that this sort of killing has gone on since the beginning of this country. It will always be controversial, however. Is it needed? Everyone has their own opinion. I don't see it stopping in the foreseeable future.

 

Al-Awlaki was a dual citizen of Yemen and the US; however, the problem is Yemen does not recognize dual citizenship.

http://www.opm.gov/extra/investigate/is-01.pdf

"DUAL CITIZENSHIP: NOT RECOGNIZED."

Download the pdf and search for Yemen. To be a citizen of Yemen; he could not be a citizen of the US.

As it was the Yemenis who pin pointed Al-Awlaki for the strike; the US did not violate Yemen's sovereignty.

 

So what in the world do you do when you are declared a terrorist?

 

Ok given it could have been done more public friendly but we all agree he got what was coming to him. Everyone on here know's what this guy has done or has accused of doing that if you pulled in your diveway and seen him standing in your front yard or he knocked on your door at mid-night with your family in the house. Would you call the police and wait for them to come and take him off to jail so he could have a trial or would you shoot him in the head and let him be judged by GOD. At my house there would be a long line of slow walkin, flower bringing and tear droping.


Now as far as being classified as a terrorist when a person plans to kill thousands of American's men,wemon and children I think that would make him a terrorist. This guy didn't spray paint an Anarchy symbol on a building. He wanted to kill all of us not one or two that did him wrong he wanted America dead. They didn't kill him on US soil he went to another country and assisted in a war against the US. What would or who would we be blaming if the President didn't kill when he had the chance and tweny thousand Americans were killed. Ill tell you we all would have been talking well the bastard dropped the ball on this one, it was in his power's to kill him when he had the chance and now look what he let happen. I know I would be saying it and don't let it cross your mind that Im defending Odumba$$ because I think he will be the down fall of our Country and that he has no idea on what he's doing. I don't think he was wrong on this. He took out a terrorist not an American on forien soil not on US soil and if by doing so he saved the life of one US sodier it was worth it. If he wanted American rights he should have stayed here in America. Every person in that Country is not worth us losing another soldier, citzen, farther, mother, son or daughter in that sand box so if we can prevent it Im for that.

 

Our laws do not trump the laws of others in their own nations. Whenever Al-Awlaki became a citizen of Yemen he terminated any claim to dual citizenship. When you become a citizen in Yemen or any other nation you swear to obey their laws; not ours. Same rules for native born.

Knowing what you know of him; if you had the shot would you take it?

 

YES! Without hesitation. He was an avowed enemy of my nation, engaging in terrorist acts against all Americans. "He needed killin'..." definitely applies here.

 

Now THIS is interesting!

Secret panel can put Americans on kill list' | Reuters

Secret panel can put Americans on "kill list'
Wed, Oct 5 2011
By Mark Hosenball
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American militants like Anwar al-Awlaki are placed on a kill or capture list by a secretive panel of senior government officials, which then informs the president of its decisions, according to officials.
There is no public record of the operations or decisions of the panel, which is a subset of the White House's National Security Council, several current and former officials said. Neither is there any law establishing its existence or setting out the rules by which it is supposed to operate.
The panel was behind the decision to add Awlaki, a U.S.-born militant preacher with alleged al Qaeda connections, to the target list. He was killed by a CIA drone strike in Yemen late last month.
The role of the president in ordering or ratifying a decision to target a citizen is fuzzy. White House spokesman Tommy Vietor declined to discuss anything about the process.
Current and former officials said that to the best of their knowledge, Awlaki, who the White House said was a key figure in al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al Qaeda's Yemen-based affiliate, had been the only American put on a government list targeting people for capture or death due to their alleged involvement with militants.
The White House is portraying the killing of Awlaki as a demonstration of President Barack Obama's toughness toward militants who threaten the United States. But the process that led to Awlaki's killing has drawn fierce criticism from both the political left and right.
In an ironic turn, Obama, who ran for president denouncing predecessor George W. Bush's expansive use of executive power in his "war on terrorism," is being attacked in some quarters for using similar tactics. They include secret legal justifications and undisclosed intelligence assessments.
Liberals criticized the drone attack on an American citizen as extra-judicial murder.
Conservatives criticized Obama for refusing to release a Justice Department legal opinion that reportedly justified killing Awlaki. They accuse Obama of hypocrisy, noting his administration insisted on publishing Bush-era administration legal memos justifying the use of interrogation techniques many equate with torture, but refused to make public its rationale for killing a citizen without due process.
Some details about how the administration went about targeting Awlaki emerged on Tuesday when the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Dutch Ruppersberger, was asked by reporters about the killing.
The process involves "going through the National Security Council, then it eventually goes to the president, but the National Security Council does the investigation, they have lawyers, they review, they look at the situation, you have input from the military, and also, we make sure that we follow international law," Ruppersberger said.
LAWYERS CONSULTED
Other officials said the role of the president in the process was murkier than what Ruppersberger described.
They said targeting recommendations are drawn up by a committee of mid-level National Security Council and agency officials. Their recommendations are then sent to the panel of NSC "principals," meaning Cabinet secretaries and intelligence unit chiefs, for approval. The panel of principals could have different memberships when considering different operational issues, they said.
The officials insisted on anonymity to discuss sensitive information.
They confirmed that lawyers, including those in the Justice Department, were consulted before Awlaki's name was added to the target list.
Two principal legal theories were advanced, an official said: first, that the actions were permitted by Congress when it authorized the use of military forces against militants in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001; and they are permitted under international law if a country is defending itself.
Several officials said that when Awlaki became the first American put on the target list, Obama was not required personally to approve the targeting of a person. But one official said Obama would be notified of the principals' decision. If he objected, the decision would be nullified, the official said.
A former official said one of the reasons for making senior officials principally responsible for nominating Americans for the target list was to "protect" the president.
Officials confirmed that a second American, Samir Khan, was killed in the drone attack that killed Awlaki. Khan had served as editor of Inspire, a glossy English-language magazine used by AQAP as a propaganda and recruitment vehicle.
But rather than being specifically targeted by drone operators, Khan was in the wrong place at the wrong time, officials said. Ruppersberger appeared to confirm that, saying Khan's death was "collateral," meaning he was not an intentional target of the drone strike.
When the name of a foreign, rather than American, militant is added to targeting lists, the decision is made within the intelligence community and normally does not require approval by high-level NSC officials.
'FROM INSPIRATIONAL TO OPERATIONAL'
Officials said Awlaki, whose fierce sermons were widely circulated on English-language militant websites, was targeted because Washington accumulated information his role in AQAP had gone "from inspirational to operational." That meant that instead of just propagandizing in favor of al Qaeda objectives, Awlaki allegedly began to participate directly in plots against American targets.
"Let me underscore, Awlaki is no mere messenger but someone integrally involved in lethal terrorist activities," Daniel Benjamin, top counterterrorism official at the State Department, warned last spring.
The Obama administration has not made public an accounting of the classified evidence that Awlaki was operationally involved in planning terrorist attacks.
But officials acknowledged that some of the intelligence purporting to show Awlaki's hands-on role in plotting attacks was patchy.
For instance, one plot in which authorities have said Awlaki was involved Nigerian-born Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound U.S. airliner on Christmas Day 2009 with a bomb hidden in his underpants.
There is no doubt Abdulmutallab was an admirer or follower of Awlaki, since he admitted that to U.S. investigators. When he appeared in a Detroit courtroom earlier this week for the start of his trial on bomb-plot charges, he proclaimed, "Anwar is alive."
But at the time the White House was considering putting Awlaki on the U.S. target list, intelligence connecting Awlaki specifically to Abdulmutallab and his alleged bomb plot was partial. Officials said at the time the United States had voice intercepts involving a phone known to have been used by Awlaki and someone who they believed, but were not positive, was Abdulmutallab.
Awlaki was also implicated in a case in which a British Airways employee was imprisoned for plotting to blow up a U.S.-bound plane. E-mails retrieved by authorities from the employee's computer showed what an investigator described as " operational contact" between Britain and Yemen.
Authorities believe the contacts were mainly between the U.K.-based suspect and his brother. But there was a strong suspicion Awlaki was at the brother's side when the messages were dispatched. British media reported that in one message, the person on the Yemeni end supposedly said, "Our highest priority is the US ... With the people you have, is it possible to get a package or a person with a package on board a flight heading to the US?"
U.S. officials contrast intelligence suggesting Awlaki's involvement in specific plots with the activities of Adam Gadahn, an American citizen who became a principal English-language propagandist for the core al Qaeda network formerly led by Osama bin Laden.
While Gadahn appeared in angry videos calling for attacks on the United States, officials said he had not been specifically targeted for capture or killing by U.S. forces because he was regarded as a loudmouth not directly involved in plotting attacks.

 

Oderint dum metuant

However, if whacking Al-Awlaki impeaches 0bama I'm fine with it.

 

Whoowee..... talk about a left-field totally whacko response.......
I don't see how it can possibly apply here.

 

I don't have a reference for this except what I heard on the ABC am news this morning. This secret counsel who makes this kill list, supposedly predate the Obama administration, and forwards their list and reasoning to Congress for oversight. I would assume that would not be open Congress, but some bipartisan much smaller group, like "ways and means" or some other ..... just saying.

 

If we are to have a life the terrorists need to fear us. Every hour of the day they spend looking over their shoulder for us is an hour where they aren't being mischievous. Let them hate us as long as they have good reason to fear us.

IMO, as Al-Awlaki said he was a Yemeni; I'll take his word for it. As Yemen does not honor dual citizenship he was Yemeni. Believing that somehow Al-Awlaki was responsible to follow our laws is a bit preposterous.

OTOH, if AL-Alwaki being an American would impeach 0bama; I am sure Al-Awlaki was American.

 

AHA! I misunderstood...... my apologies. I am all FOR making the Tangos fear US! Like dealing with any wild animals, if they don't fear us, they prey upon us. We need to take ourselves out of that 'foodchain'.......

 

Seawolf1090

 

What bothers me about people like this is they come to our country and they are welcomed with open arms (whiich I don't agree with). Then we the American people are forced to accept their belief's and if we speek out against them Big Brother trie's to charge me with a hate crime (which I don't agree with, if I want to hate someone for what ever reason it's my God given right as a free man). We as Americans pay to put these people through school and educate them in most cases better than our own children (Another thing I don't agree with us educating them so they can learn how to kill American's, when the US should be educating American children so they can protect American's from these threats). We provide them with welfare so they can stay strong and in good health (when we have American VET's starving and dieing with out medical help every day). The only thing that bother's me about this is it wasn't shown live on tv so The world could see what happen's to anyone who want's to bring harm to the America and her citizens. No matter who you are, what you believe, or where you are from if you plot to kill Americans you will die.

 

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