The President of the United States recently directed the execution of Anwar al-Awlaki. Mr. Al-Awlaki, an American citizen, had never been charged with a crime, let alone tried and convicted before an impartial judge or jury. This idea that the executive can unilaterally determine the guilt of a citizen and impose sentence is, to put it mildly, a regression to not even the 19th century that Republicans seems to love, but to approximately the 13th century.
On the other hand, Mr. Al-Awlaki, was an active, committed supporter of an organization that remained committed to harming America by killing Americans. The United States government claims he was actively engaged in terrorism and he had put himself beyond the reach of the American judicial system. If the United States is right and you believe Obama's action was illegal, what, if any, is the alternative course of action that would have been both legal and effective? Perhaps more importantly, what are the lines which limit the unilateral executive death warrant?
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