Most of the time when US officials assassinate al-Qaeda members they express concerns that their followers are going to lionize them as martyrs to the cause and larger than life figures to be emulated. With popular cleric and putative al-Qaeda member Anwar Awlaki, the US seems to be the one looking to promote him.
Having killed him earlier this morning in a drone strike, officials spent the rest of the day not only bragging about his killing, but hyping his role in al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), even inventing the title “chief of external operations” for him after his death.
They are now attempting to credit Awlaki for a myriad of plots real and imagined, and while they’ve yet to show the public evidence that he was even a member of AQAP, they keep adding new unproven allegations against him to the list.
In the end, the Obama Administration’s distaste for Awlaki was primarily what he did in public, which was to speak critically of US foreign policy, not any private double-life they hope the American public will believe he was secretly leading. Despite his posthumous promotion they also say it probably will have no real effect on AQAP, since he “wasn’t among the top military commanders.”
So much for the Law or President Ford's Executive Order 11905, Ford outlawed political assassination: Section 5(g), entitled "Prohibition on Assassination," states: "No employee of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, political assassination."
The President and who ever followed his orders should be arrested and tried for murder. I can think of plenty of dual Israeli, American citizens who support terrorist actions. Will they be assinated without do process as well? If the President did not sanction thisaction then whover did must be held responsible.
When was the last time you said something hyper-critical about the government, it's employees, the President, or any governmental agency? For me that was probably, oh, five minutes ago- and probably in print somewhere online where it can't be hidden or erased. For that- and that's just icing on the cake, apparently, as no crime is needed- I can be placed on the assassination list and conveniently erased. And guess what- so can any of you, for any reason real or imagined. But for speaking out against the government and its policies and calling it out in public, you may very well pay the price.
While I have no love for Awlaki or his particular brand of thought, the fact remains that he was never charged with any crime nor was any evidence ever presented linking him to any real operations. His (uncharged) crime? Speaking out against the US government and calling it out in public for very real and evident foreign policy faults.
None of us know if we're on the hit list or not: we have no way of knowing yes or no, and we certainly have no way to refute any evidence brought against us- as if evidence matters to anyone any longer, and we will never know until it's too late.
For free speech we may very well all be martyred.
Sadly, we are all now Awlaki.
War on Terrorism is actually a war on we the people, for its primary goal is to our fearful submission to authority. So, the less proof of citizen Awlaki being guilty, the greater the thought that anyone could be next and the greater the fearful submission.
The Obama administration is trying hard to outdue the Bush clan for criminality. The assassination of any individual without due process – anytime, anywhere(other than through a declaration of war.) is illegal.
Making backroom deals to steal billions of dollars from American taxpayers is illegal(i.e the 'No' vote to bail out the banks).
Backing Israel's settlement building, providing billions of dollars of weaponry to continue an illegal occupation – is also illegal.
The U.S is a rogue state. The American people need to band together and demand justice where crimes have been committed. Whatever it takes.
I would encourage anybody who can to get down to Wall Street and join the others in demanding that Goldman Sachs and other criminal organizations be shut down and it's leaders charged.
It would great to see what happened in Egypt happen in the U.S. What is there to lose?
People should think a little deeper about what is going on in the world. The intent of the so-called "globalists" (actually a small number of financiers who operate the central banking scam) is to turn America into such a disgraced, vicious, gangster state that the citizens will happily embrace being ruled by some foreign body of faux "internationalists" probably based in Belgium or somewhere. This scheme is not even particularly secret as it's tenets are easily available to those who pursue political literature with a small amount of diligence. Once again, it is necessary to restate that the President (Resident?) of the moment is merely an empty suit owned and operated by the bankers. The endless wanking about the sins of the Executive Branch are nothing but the old movie cowboy's hat-upon-a-stick trick intended to draw fire away from the real operators of the scam. And the scam of the moment is to make the system of government look like such a diseased rabid dog that the masses will happily accept governance from abroad, a move which would of course increase the power of the central banksters by an order of magnitude.
Obama is WORSE than Bush and ultimately more dangerous.
So now that Awlaki is dead who will Obama find next to demonize and kill?
I feel like I was born in the USA but live in the old Soviet Union.
Thank you Obomba!
I guess that shows that our Nobel Peace Prize laureate president is desperate for votes.