I've always thought Anwar al-Awlaki was a somewhat odd example. Suppose an American man is found guilty of war crimes in, say, France, and is ordered captured

I've always thought Anwar al-Awlaki was a somewhat odd example. Suppose an American man is found guilty of war crimes in, say, France, and is ordered captured dead or alive. While conducting military exercises in France, the US, an ally of France, gets the opportunity to capture him, dead. They do so. Are you outraged? Replace France with Yemen and you pretty much have the situation with this individual. I should say, I agree with you on the point that drone strikes in general are not good policy. I'm more concerned about civilian casualties than the actual targets, though. I've yet to come across a case to change my mind.