Thread: American Citizen on a Kill List

So, I was listening to NPR the other day and heard about a certain radical Muslim preacher who's an American citizen. What disturbed me is that it was mentioned that he was put on the "OK to kill" list for terrorists without having to go through the courts or anything.

If they wanted to wanted to wire tap, it would have to go through the courts, but to put an American citizen on the kill list requires no special effort.

Originally Posted by Mr. White

So, I was listening to NPR the other day and heard about a certain radical Muslim preacher who's an American citizen. What disturbed me is that it was mentioned that he was put on the "OK to kill" list for terrorists without having to go through the courts or anything.

If they wanted to wanted to wire tap, it would have to go through the courts, but to put an American citizen on the kill list requires no special effort.

How radical? Didnt know there was an OK to kill list. Is the guy leading his flock to go out and kill the infidel? Is the guy in the US or in Afghanistan?

The guy's in hiding in Yemen is openly associated with Al Qaeda. I have no qualms about him being ok to kill, what disturbs me is that an American citizen can be so easily put on a kill list.

What makes you think it was easy to get his name on the list? Maybe they been working on it for a couple years??

Originally Posted by CivilWars

Maybe he was found guilty of treason?

In this particular instance - no he was not, as far as I can tell. I realize that acting, openly, with terrorists means that you've basically voided many of the protections of the constitution (as you are now the enemy) however, this still leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth as he is an American Citizen still and is due certain things (due process being one at least I guess) prior to execution.

Not sure that this is the right way to go about it given his citizenship. To be clear though, I don't have a problem with him being placed on a list of potential targets, I just don't think it ought to have happened without a "trial" of some sort.

Because it didn't have to go through the courts or some type of process where evidence was given.

Here are a few articles discussing the case;

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...040604121.html


http://foreignaffairslaw.wordpress.c...cia-kill-list/

NY Times offers some details of the legal underpinnings of the decision:
As a general principle, international law permits the use of lethal force against individuals and groups that pose an imminent threat to a country, and officials said that was the standard used in adding names to the list of targets. In addition, Congress approved the use of military force against Al Qaeda after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. People on the target list are considered to be military enemies of the United States and therefore not subject to the ban on political assassination first approved by President Gerald R. Ford.
Both the C.I.A. and the military maintain lists of terrorists linked to Al Qaeda and its affiliates who are approved for capture or killing, former officials said. But because Mr. Awlaki is an American, his inclusion on those lists had to be approved by the National Security Council, the officials said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUST...e=domesticNews

Addressing a Washington conference on Tuesday night, John Brennan, President Barack Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, said U.S. citizens fighting alongside al Qaeda and the Taliban are "legitimate targets" for lethal strikes.
...
Obama's National Security Council recently gave the CIA the green light to kill Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric in Yemen who holds U.S. citizenship, and Brennan's comments suggested others could be targeted in the future.

Lots of things go thru courts that are not open to the public. For instance the wiretapping stuff went to a judge before the changes to homeland security when Bush said that authority laid with the president and didnt need a judge. This isn't about him taking that away for the judge, my point is people were getting tapped after it went thru due process... but the details were not make public. Maybe the same thing happened here... maybe not.