When it was revealed and reported back in July that the Obama administration harbors a secret “kill list” of Americans targeted for assassination, one would might have expected the American Civil Liberties Union to weigh in. Last week it did, filing a formal complaint with a federal judge. The complaint, however, did not ask the judge to enjoin the government from maintaining such a list, but rather asked that one name be removed from it. That name was Anwar al-Awlaki.
Awlaki, should the name fail to ring a bell, is an American-born Muslim cleric who serves as a senior “talent” recruiter and trainer of terrorists for al-Qaeda. Considered a powerful motivational speaker, Awlaki periodically releases YouTube recruitment videos, which has led to his being dubbed the bin Laden of the internet. He has been linked to the Fort Hood shootings, the failed Christmas Day attempted bombing of a plane over Detroit, and attempted bombing of Times Square. Stuart Levey, U.S. Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism, has said that Awlaki "is extraordinarily dangerous, committed to carrying out deadly attacks on Americans and others worldwide.”
In its lawsuit, the ACLU notes that “[t]he right to life is the most fundamental of all rights.” The truth of that statement is inescapable, but how do ACLU attorneys square that ideal with their client’s view of human life? “Those who might be killed in a plane,” Awlaki said in response to criticism of the Christmas Day airliner plot, which targeted civilians, “are merely a drop of water in a sea."
He has routinely called for the extermination of American civilians, whom he says, “are taking part in this [the war on terrorism] and … are financing the war.” In his deranged worldview, civilian casualties aren’t merely collateral damage of warfare but intentional targets.
As to a government sponsored hit list, I maintain my earlier objection to it. The whole notion of such a list is repugnant and, more importantly, unconstitutional. At the same time, I would argue that the rights protected under the Constitution are reserved for Americans, not for sworn enemies of the state.
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