by Austin Bay
November 9, 2010Last April, President Barack Obama placed al-Qaida terrorist
and unabashed American traitor Anwar al-Awlaki on the CIA's "capture or
kill" list. Obama's authorization means Awlaki can be killed by U.S.
security agencies, with the likely bullet a laser-guided Hellfire missile fired
by a CIA Predator as it flies over Awlaki's hideout somewhere in Yemen.
The president determined Awlaki poses a clear and present
danger to America. Awlaki is a skilled terrorist motivator and recruiter, a
malignantly gifted fanatic who dupes susceptible minds with vicious propaganda
then turns his brainwashed minions into mass murderers. For example, Faisal
Shahzad, the Times Square terrorist, told police Awlaki inspired him to launch
an attack.
Awlaki, however, doesn't just talk the talk, he walks it.
U.S. intelligence says he has played a key operational role in planning several
attacks. He helped orchestrate the attempted Christmas Day terror attack on a
Detroit-bound airliner. He spiritually advised Ft. Hood terrorist and fellow
traitor Nidal Hasan. Spiritual adviser in this case is a euphemism for
operational handler.
Awlaki was born in New Mexico, so by birthright he is a U.S.
citizen. He certainly despises the U.S. Constitution and particularly disdains
free speech. In July, Awlaki demanded the death of Seattle-based cartoonist
Molly Norris. Norris had promoted the "Everyone Draw Mohammed Day"
project as a public demonstration of free expression. Norris is now in hiding.
She fears assassination.
You would think American civil libertarians would treat
Norris as a heroine. You would expect civil libertarians to commend the
president for taking action to protect her life. She is, after all, an artist
silenced by death threats issued by a savage killer espousing a rigid,
tyrannical ideology.
Scotch those thoughts and expectations. The American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU) defends Awlaki. In a case filed on behalf of Awlaki's
father, the ACLU questions the president's right to sanction a Predator attack
on an American citizen. The fact Awlaki is voluntarily engaged in hostilities
against the U.S. under the aegis of an enemy power gives the ACLU little pause.
One hyperbolic ACLU lawyer claims Obama is "imposing the death penalty
without trial."
The claim is sophistry masquerading as sophistication. If
all the world were a courtroom, where the decisive weapons are precedent,
persuasive arguments and subpoenas, the ACLU might have a case -- if Awlaki's
father has legal standing, which is doubtful. Earth, however, is populated by
people who have profound disagreements over values that undergird the most
basic laws. The civilized are willing to negotiate those disagreements.
Barbarians like Awlaki are different. They will murder Molly Norrises en masse
to impose their will. The barbarians are outlaws.
Which is why we give the president authority to decide to
kill them when they try to kill us, since they are beyond the reach of law.
ACLU grandstanders may have objectives beyond Awlaki. Their
sneaky little case ultimately challenges the president's authority to fight any
war, but particularly the Global War on Terror. Its Oct. 8 court filing fixates
on Predators and U.S. targeting methodology. It appears the ACLU doesn't care
much for either. Essentially, ACLU lawyers are asserting the right to oversee
and overrule real-time battlefield decisions made by U.S. security agencies.
Al-Qaida banked on this kind of lawfare waged by legalistic
pettifoggers to blunt U.S. counter-terror capabilities. In 2001, al-Qaida
plotted a war without borders, one designed to frustrate nation-states that
recognized political boundaries. Laws al-Qaida flouted would thwart America's
counterattack. Al-Qaida would fight and win in the gray zone while lawfare
litigators tied down American power with legalistic knots.
Predator, however, surprised al-Qaida. Its deadly shadow
haunts the nowheres al-Qaida thought were sanctuaries.
Keep the Predator circling over Awlaki. The ACLU case should
be dismissed with extreme prejudice.
