For Awlaki the choice not only to become a Muslim cleric but to march steadily along the road of violent political Islam has become a matter of life or death. The Obama administration came to accept that Awlaki was more, much more, than an exponent of a very expansive view of Islam in the world. He had become a recruiter of, facilitator of, and operational leader of men who sought martyrdom while killing American civilians.
The well documented connections between the Yemen based, American born advocate of global jihad directed at establishing a new global Caliphate on the one hand and such Agents Of Allah as the Fort Hood Shooter, the Underwear Bomber and the Times Square Dud Maker convinced the Obama administration to call Awlaki what he is--a terrorist. He was placed on the official roster of such people by the Treasury Department. And, a kill-or-capture authorization was signed at the highest levels.
A bullseye was placed on Awlaki's back. If we could find him, we could kill him without any further ado.
That is until Awlaki's dad entered the picture. Seeking to maximize the benefits so accidentally and providentially conferred upon his son by virtue of his birth in the Duke City, the senior Awlaki sought the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Constitutional Rights in an effort to take the target off sonny boy's posterior.
The ACLU and its partner in law would like nothing better than the chance to convince the federal courts to end the Bush started and Obama augmented policy of "targeted killings." The lawyers have decided that there is something deucedly wrong with the notion of killing people who sponsor, support, or command lethal efforts against Americans unless those evil doers are either (1) located in a precisely defined and geographically limited "zone of combat operations," or (2) are provided with the full panoply of protection extent under the constitution for any and all accused of crimes great or small.
To the ACLU and its kin the Awlaki case is simply a means to an end. The end is that of severely limiting the ability of the US to strike effectively against major terrorist figures wherever they are hiding or, more importantly, regardless of the protection they are receiving from local officials. Awlaki is hiding far from the current war zones--or at least the "official" ones--in Iraq, and Afghanistan. He is operating with the tacit protection at least of Yemeni officials.
The only practical way to remove Awlaki's odious presence is through either the risk-ridden means of a commando operation or the low risk one of hitting him from on high. Presumably the ACLU has no problem with the first option as that would assure in principle that Awlaki would be the recipient of all precautions and protections available under the current American system. All other considerations such as risks, diplomatic complications, undue glorification of an evil man, pale into insignificance in the estimate of the High Minded lawyers.
It would be refreshing if the worthies of the ACLU would admit that their motives were not as pure in this case as they have been in past skirmishes between government power and citizen's rights. This time the goal of the lawyers is not the protection of Awlaki's rights as an individual lucky enough to have become a born-in-America hater of all things American. Their interest is simply putting a crippling spanner in the works of a key American effort to fight a war against a global girdling opponent who knows no constraints--legal or otherwise--on their methods and venues.
It would be even more refreshing if the lawyers of ACLU involved in this attempt to castrate critical war fighting means would admit that they share one value with Mr Awlaki. They hate America as much as he does.
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