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- Anonymous Shrewd
- Manlobbi
Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy
No. of Recommendations: 4
If a bank robber holes up in an apartment and refuses to surrender. In fact, if he occasionally fires his rifle at passersby, are the police justified in ordering a sniper to take him out?
No. of Recommendations: 2
Um, yes?
No. of Recommendations: 4
It doesn't need to be a "bank robber". Anyone who is a threat to the public, by taking an occasional shot, volunteered for "suicide by police".
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 3
Um, yes?
I agree, g0. And I apologize in advance for asking a question without giving a hint about where I was going. I also apologize for dragging out an old issue from the Obama years…
But here goes…
Anwar al-Awlaki Was an Al Qaeda terrorist. He was also an American citizen who fled to Yemen and declared war on the United States. Holed up in the rugged mountains of Yemen, he helped plan terrorist attacks in the United States.
Obama authorized the Reaper drone that took him out.
Oh, the outrage over killing a citizen-terrorist without due-process, though most folks will agree that the bank robber in my scenario needed to be shot
Now, I’ll reveal my opinion:
I agree with both the decision to shoot the bank robber as well as the decision to drone the American citizen who was moonlighting as an Al Qaeda leader in the wilds of Yemen.
Anwar al-Awlaki’s constitutional rights were no more violated than were the constitutional rights of the bank robber who yelled out the window “you’ll never take me alive, copper!”, before shooting another bystander.
No. of Recommendations: 4
Anwar al-Awlaki’s constitutional rights were no more violated
Here's what was cited as authority to kill him:
"Lawyers for the Obama administration, arguing for their ability to kill an American citizen without trial in Yemen, contended that the protection of US citizenship was effectively removed by a key congressional act that blessed a global war against al-Qaida.
Known as the Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF), the broad and controversial 2001 law played a major role in the legal decision to kill Anwar al-Awlaki, the former al-Qaida propagandist and US citizen, in 2011, according to a redacted memorandum made public on Monday.
"We believe that the AUMF's authority to use lethal force abroad also may apply in appropriate circumstances to a United States citizen who is part of the forces of an enemy authorization within the scope of the force authorization," reads the Justice Department memorandum, written for attorney general Eric Holder on 16 July 2010 and ostensibly intended strictly for Awlaki's case."
I think that line of thinking holds.
I also think if an American is planning or connected to planning attacks on Americans and/or American territory (endangering Americans), you have my permission to take them out.
