Image via Wikipedia
The execution of American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki ordered by
our president and carried out by drone aircraft in Yemen
have awakened some emotions when critics have condemned the actions as illegal
and others like Ron Paul (candidate for president) suggested that the actions
undertaken by the U.S.
There is no question al-Awlaki was a terrorist bent on the
destruction of his own country and its citizens and his death is a good thing
for the U.S., the world and all citizens of the world so why are we having
problems with the legality of his execution.
The Fifth Amendment in our Constitution states that no
person shall answer for a capital crime without first being indicted for that
crime and then facing the charges brought against him for that crime. None of
this happened in al-Awlaki’s case and therefore some are saying that his
Constitutional rights have been violated.
Some are saying that this execution of an American citizen
may have placed us on a slippery slope with no boundaries and makes us no
better than some of the regimes we have criticized so severely.
I realize that my first response to this criticism was
basically emotional so I will investigate and defend what President Obama and
our government did using legal Constitutional precedent and historical
Constitutional interpretation as I find it…more later.
No comments:
Post a Comment