The Obama Administration has ordered the extra judicial assassination of radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki as part of the ongoing war against the al-Qaeda terrorist group. What makes this decision frightening is the fact that al-Awlaki is an American citizen.
To put this in perspective, the Administration has authorized the extra legal killing of an American citizen arbitrarily without any sort of legal process outside of an intelligence review which has concluded that al-Awlaki is a pretty bad fellow and needs to die, possibly as a result of having death rained upon him from a UAV. This decision goes against everything which this nation stands for, as an American citizen, protected by our laws and constitution, has been targeted for assassination by the very government which was established to protect his rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness without any judicial proceedings or verdicts of guilt by a jury of his peers.
Granted, Mr al-Awlaki is probably a pretty bad guy, and has sided with our enemies, which is treason, a crime which to this day remains a capital offense, and should be held accountable for his actions. However, he must be dealt with according to the rule of law; he must be put on trial for his crimes. Giving the government arbitrary power to assassinates American citizens is completely at odds with every principle which this nation was founded upon and must be opposed vehemently lest the precedent be set that the government can take the lives of those who are declared enemies of the state without any verdicts of guilt or judicial proceedings. Allowing the government to claim the authority to kill who it pleases is a return to the barbarism which our forefathers fled from, casting off the chains of the British Crown, in order to establish our Republic.
The bottom line is this, if the government can claim the authority to kill this man, one of our fellow citizens, to deprive him of life and liberty without a trial or verdict of guilt, then they can set the precedent to take the lives of anyone who they see fit.
