Now that the (heavily redacted) legal memo is out, I understand the legal reasoning.
Basically, it says that if an American is making war against the US, then the US is entitled to kill them, with a dash of the 2001 AUMF thrown in for spice.
That being said, I simply see no statements about the actual facts of the matter.
What did al-Awlaki do?
We know that he gave sermons on the internet advocating Jihad and attempting to recruit, and we know that he gave religious counseling to a number of terrorists, most notably the underpants bomber, but beyond that, all that I have heard is crickets.
The reason that I am wondering about all this is because the actions listed above seem to fall squarely in the realm of pastoral activities.
If it was just these actions, it would seem to me that people like Randall Terry, whose Operation Rescue is clearly a terrorist organization, would be cruising for a droning.