5 ms·
Americans are afforded due process rights under the Constitution. I'm not saying he wasn't a bad guy, he clearly was. But it's not the same as a soldier (or pol
by jaywalk 4y ago
Americans are afforded due process rights under the Constitution. I'm not saying he wasn't a bad guy, he clearly was. But it's not the same as a soldier (or police officer, or anyone really) shooting someone who's actively shooting at them. This was a straight up execution of a citizen without due process.
Nobody, including the President, has the right to do that. It was blatantly unconstitutional.
- googlryas 4y agoWhat other due process is there, relative to the Authorization for Use of Military Force act of 2001? Congress gave POTUS the power to go after people like al-Awlaki with it. It's been on the books for 20+ years, the Supreme Court has essentially ruled it is a constitutional giving of power by Congress to POTUS e.g. in Hamadi vs Rumsfeld. If the US military could have captured al-Awlaki without incident, then drone striking him would probably not be considered "necessary and appropriate force". But, it wasn't reasonable to capture him, so what alternative is there?
- trasz 4y agoHow about simply not murdering people on the other side of the world? Here’s a mental experiment for you: what would you do if Russia, lawfully (according to Russian laws) executed people in US? Because that’s exactly what US is doing to the rest of the world.
- googlryas 4y agoWell, that sounds like a great idea. But, it needs to be a two way street. Convince terrorists planning terror attacks to not murder people on the other side of the world, then I'm sure America would drastically cut down on the number of people it killed on the other side of the world. > what would you do if Russia, lawfully (according to Russian laws) executed people in US? Because that’s exactly what US is doing to the rest of the world. Well, that depends - is the US government a failed state incapable of enforcing its own laws? Or did the US government give permission for this to happen? Then sure, go right ahead Russia. The Yemeni government gave the greenlight for the US to drone strike al-Awlaki.
- trasz 4y agoNumber of victims of terrorist attacks on the other side of the world is orders of magnitude lower than number of victims of American invasions. Even 9/11 was a minor episode compared to the invasion it served as an excuse for. Essentially, you’re assuming US are always the good guys. And the easiest way to explain this is the foundation of all US politics: racism. Having said that, US _arr_ the good guys at the moment, and let’s hope it stays that way.
- mike00632 4y agoJust to be clear, he wasn't "planning terrorist attacks". He was a propagandist.
- lupire 4y agoTo make the parallel clear: If Russia executed people that were waging war against Russia from within the US, that the US had already convicted of making war on Russia, was the US also trying to capture or kill at the same time? I'd expect the US government to say "thank you".
- trasz 4y agoThere’s no conviction involved in either of those situations. Just Russia - or Iran - executing people inconvenient to Russia, on US soil, obviously against US will. Exactly what US is doing to other countries.