US Says it Has Legal Authority to Kill American-Born Anwar al-Awlaki
Monday 08 November 2010
by: Warren Richey | The Christian Science Monitor | Report
Washington - Responding to a lawsuit challenging the legality of including an American citizen on a secret government “kill list,” a Justice Department lawyer argued in federal court on Monday that the US government has the legal authority to target and kill a US-born Islamic cleric believed to be hiding in Yemen.
Douglas Letter, the Justice Department’s terrorism litigation counsel, while stressing that he was neither confirming nor denying the existence of such a list, told US District Judge John Bates that Congress in the wake of the 9/11 attacks had authorized the executive branch to use all “necessary and appropriate” force against Al Qaeda and associated groups.
He said the Obama administration has determined that the targeted killing of Anwar al-Awlaki would be legal and justified to safeguard US national security.
“If we use lethal force we do so consistent with the law,” Mr. Letter said.
His arguments were part of a government effort to win dismissal of the lawsuit, which is being argued by the American Civil Liberties Union. ACLU lawyer Jameel Jaffer told the judge that the administration’s plan would violate constitutional protections and international law.
“What the government is doing is imposing the death penalty without trial,” Mr. Jaffer said.
“The consequence of accepting the government’s argument is that the president will have the unreviewable authority to order the assassination of any citizen of the United States” without judicial review, he said. “It is a question that the president alone will decide.”
Alarmed at that broad assertion, Judge Bates invited Letter back up to the podium to respond.
“It is ridiculous to say our argument leads to the conclusion that the president can assassinate who he wants,” Letter said.
He said the administration’s efforts are aimed “against somebody who is formally and officially designated as a global terrorist, who is attempting to carry out operations continually in order to kill Americans.”
Mr. Awlaki is a leader of the Yemen-based group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which claimed responsibility for the makeshift bombs recently discovered in air cargo bound for the US.
On Monday, he was quoted in a video displayed on militant websites urging Muslims to take up arms against Americans.
Click here to sign up for Truthout’s FREE daily email updates.
“Don’t consult with anybody in killing the Americans,” he said in the video. “Fighting the devil does not require a fatwa, nor consultation, nor prayers seeking divine guidance. They are the party of Satan and fighting them is the obligation of the time,” he said.
Awlaki is said to have played a role in preparing Umar Abdulmutallab, the Christmas bomber, for his aborted effort to down a jetliner near Detroit in 2009.
The ACLU lawsuit was filed by Awlaki’s father, Nasser, on behalf of his son, whose whereabouts are unknown. He is said to have gone into hiding in January and is believed to be in a remote section of eastern Yemen.
The lawsuit does not seek to prevent the government from carrying out targeted killings. Instead, the ACLU is asking Judge Bates to examine the government’s criteria for placing Awlaki on the alleged kill list.
To justify lethal action, the ACLU suit says, the government must be able to demonstrate that the targeted killing is necessary to prevent a direct and imminent threat to public safety. In addition, the suit says, the government must be able to show there are no non-lethal options available to neutralize a threat from Awlaki.
The government is asking Bates to throw the lawsuit out, arguing that Awlaki’s father does not have legal standing to bring the challenge. Letter said if Awlaki wanted to challenge the US government’s alleged “kill list” he could turn himself in to the authorities and litigate the issue himself.
Letter warned the judge that if he allowed the suit to move forward he would be placing the judiciary in the position of having to second-guess real-time decisions made by the president and his military and intelligence advisors.
Judge Bates said federal judges are already engaged in a similar enterprise, examining whether Guantanamo detainees are being held in accord with the law. In addition he said the government must obtain judicial approval before it can engage in electronic surveillance of US citizens overseas.
Jaffer said the lawsuit doesn’t seek to impose judicial review of real-time decisions of the president. “We are not asking for the court to get involved at all,” he said. “Just to set general limits.”
In contrast, Jaffer said, the government’s position is to exclude judicial oversight from the process. “They are not just arguing that the court has no role to play now,” he said. “They are arguing that he courts have no role to play, period.”
Judge Bates peppered the lawyers during the two-hour hearing with pointed questions exploring the full range of both sides’ arguments. He said he would work quickly to issue a decision, but set no deadline.
All republished content that appears on Truthout has been obtained by permission or license.
Comments
This forum is moderated by software. Please allow up to 15 minutes for your comments to go live and avoid posting the same comment multiple times.
Well, US Americans (We, the
Tue, 11/09/2010 - 16:34 — Vic Anderson (not verified)Well, US Americans (We, the PEOPLE) DON'T!
Awlaki is a disgusting
Tue, 11/09/2010 - 17:31 — Anonymous (not verified)Awlaki is a disgusting bastard. You don't have to be a self-proclaimed "patriot" to see that.
Nevertheless, he has the same rights that any other citizen has to due process--the same rights that that good Republican Tim McVeigh had when he not only advocated killing Americans en masse but actually did so.
Any other approach will inevitably lead to the total collapse of U.S. civil liberties, which are in bad enough shape as it is.
Who else is on "the list"?
Tue, 11/09/2010 - 17:52 — Anonymous (not verified)Who else is on "the list"? Who else do these thugs want to assassinate with impunity? And when will they, themselves, go on "the list" for their treasonous crimes?
22:31 how do you know Awlaki
Tue, 11/09/2010 - 18:20 — Anonymous (not verified)22:31 how do you know Awlaki is a "disgusting bastard"--have you met him? Do you know if this person even exists?
This constant stream of "terrorist" lurking behind every rock propaganda is designed to further the goals of the psychos creating it--think twice before you buy into "terrorists are out to get us" crap. See, e.g., "the commies are out to get us" by Adolph Hitler in The Invasion of Russia 1941", "The Invasion of Poland" . . . France . . .
23:20 Good point!!! We have
Tue, 11/09/2010 - 19:11 — AH_Melb (not verified)23:20 Good point!!!
We have nothing to fear but fear itself.
It's the same old story regurgitated over the last ten years.
Incidentally - was Bin Laden not touted as the main suspect for Oklahoma before a real investigation showed otherwise?
IF the Us can unilaterally
Tue, 11/09/2010 - 19:41 — Frank (not verified)IF the Us can unilaterally assassinate hiding criminals, does this imply that others are allowed to assassinate otherwise unreachable war criminals, for example, Bush, cheney and co? If not, why not?
That is a good question,
Wed, 11/10/2010 - 07:56 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)That is a good question, Frank; but be careful, because that kind of comment will get you a visit from the S.S., F.B.I. and/or D.H.S. And, believe me, even if you wrote that you were "Anonymous", or if "Frank" is an alias, they CAN figure out relatively easily who you are and where you are. Don't misunderstand me, I am completely against this, but this is the despotic, tyrannous and treasonous reality that has been created by the U.S. government today.
On point, the Christian Science Monitor (CSM) adds to the problem like much of the, what Ray McGovern calls "Fawning Corporate Media" (or, "FCM") instead of MSM, by not saying, "Mr. Awlaki is (ALLEGEDLY) a leader of the Yemen-based group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which (ALLEGDLY) claimed responsibility for the makeshift bombs recently discovered in air cargo bound for the US". The CSM claims he irrefutably "IS" said leader of said "al Q'aeda" group, allegedly in Yemen...
...Make no mistake, most of
Wed, 11/10/2010 - 08:00 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)...Make no mistake, most of these "confessions" taking credit for "terrorist attacks" are propaganda of the "al-CIA-duh" and/or other branches of the worldwide, international, multi-national, corporate-fascist "intelligence" apparatus. Most of these people that they claim are "terrorists" are either patsies or are working for those intelligence agencies who are the true terrorists, and they often imprison, torture and/or murder their own patsies, assets and/or agents as scapegoats in order to "legitimize" the endless "War (OF) Terror"...
...The entire global "War
Wed, 11/10/2010 - 08:04 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)...The entire global "War (OF!) Terror" is an absolutely HUGE lie and fraud; and anyone who believes any of the propaganda about who supposedly "is" and "is not" perpetrating what "terrorism", needs to have their head examined. Just as in George Orwell's book, 1984, the powers-that-be brainwash most people and get them to believe the crap that they spew, and that they spew now, totally out of control, as never before. But, as in 1984, the U.S. government and its globalist allies are the true terrorists.
So please, people, don't fall for the practically-all-lies that come from the corporate-fascist government and the their FCM and/or MSM propaganda arm. It's like another commenter in this thread, "Anonymous @ Tue, 11/09/2010 - 23:20", said, they would have us believe the monumental lie that their "are" supposedly 'terrorists' "lurking behind every rock", or around every corner, have us live in fear, and as a result have us blindly support their endless "War (OF!) Terror" in order to supposedly "protect us". It's all a sham and an incredible, colossal lie.
Then, of course, they are making out anyone and everyone who sees through, speaks up against, tells the real truth about, and who stands up against their massive lie(s) and fraud(s), to supposedly be "terrorists" as well. Thus they will shut down all dissent and checks and balances on their despotism, tyranny, treason and repression, eradicate all True Human Rights and Civil Liberties, and all True Freedom(s), and make us all slaves to their HUGE global, "New World Order (NWO)", one-world government, "Big Brother", corporate-fascist, totalitarian militarized police state, where NO ONE will be Truly Free.
We've all got to wake up and fulfill our duty(ies) to stand up against all of this mass-insanity, and to stand up against the control grid and worldwide prison that is very rapidly and systematically taking over, that is being erected all around us, and which is overtaking us in a deluge of lies, fraud, oppression, propaganda and repression, to shut us up and make us into "good little slaves" and nothing but compliant "global prison inmates". Truly Free people don't EVER "lay down" and accept the eradication of their human rights and civil liberties, and the systematic enslavement that comes with it.
Again, "...(W)hen a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce (The People) under absolute Despotism (as IS happening right now), it is their right, IT IS THEIR DUTY, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security (liberty, freedom and happiness)..."! --Declaration of Independence, 1776. [Emphasis and/or clarification(s) added by me.]
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." --Thomas Jefferson.
LET THERE ONLY BE TRUE FREEDOM, AND NOTHING BUT TRUE FREEDOM, SO HELP US GOD!
P.S.---Frank, etc., the U.S.
Wed, 11/10/2010 - 09:06 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)P.S.---Frank, etc., the U.S. government is already visiting millions of completely innocent Americans who are nothing but non-violent, anti-violence True Americans and Patriots, and/or activists, for making comments like you made, Frank; for marching in protests; for going to anti-war meetings and/or gatherings; for false accusations of threatening federal employees simply because the alleged "threatener(s)" got understandably and justly angry for those government employees violating their rights and/or falsely accusing them of some thing(s), who set them up to get, and/or entrapped them into, getting angry, even though the so-called "threatener(s)" did not actually threaten federal employees; etc. It is happening all over the country...
...Like in Nazi Germany, it
Wed, 11/10/2010 - 09:06 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)...Like in Nazi Germany, it starts out as somewhat "soft fascism", or so-called "friendly" visits "just to check you out and make sure you're not a threat"; and then, as the government gets away with more and more of it, it escalates into "Gestapo-like", "jackbooted" repression, and pretty soon those completely innocent people are "taken away" like in the "1984-like" movie, V for Vendetta. If you haven't seen both movies, watch them, particularly the latter one. The story has its problems; but, basically it pretty much right-on, and as stark warning to us all that we've got to stand up en masse against all of this madness; otherwise, unless we do so, we have no chance. EVERYONE who remains silent in the face of this repression is complicit in it.
Further on-point, contrary
Wed, 11/10/2010 - 09:24 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)Further on-point, contrary to what the lawyer for the state, Douglas Letter, claims, it is NOT "...ridiculous to say (the government's) argument leads to the conclusion that the president can assassinate who he wants"! The president is already doing so. He is ordering assassinations of people all over the world who are not granted a fair trial and proof "beyond a reasonable doubt" that they are guilty. And, even if he were not doing that, he is ordering and/or allowing "al-CIA-duh", the U.S. military and mercenaries to "assassinate", and/or mass-murder, thousands of innocent people in order to kill a few "terrorists", by "bombing them back into the Stone Age"; drone attacks; breaking into family homes and slaughtering the entire occupents, men, woman, children and little babies; and "false flag" terror attacks, et cetera...
...Thus, these apologists
Wed, 11/10/2010 - 09:25 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)...Thus, these apologists for the state, like "Letter", really chap my hide! He certainly doesn't believe in "the letter of the law", does he, rhetorically speaking? You see how they more and more condone the unconscionable until greater and greater amounts of it, including against our own (U.S.) citizens, is carried out? It gets excused to a larger and larger extent, and the public gets brainwashed more and more into supporting it, until it is widespread and out of control. And it is just a matter of time before such blatant repression and mass-murder comes home to roost right here in our own backyard, and the U.S. government retaliates in a violent fashion against True Americans who stand for True Freedom, and against all of this fascism, in order to attempt to shut down the God- and Constitutionally- given duty(ies) to dissent against all of this insanity...
...This country, and our
Wed, 11/10/2010 - 09:26 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)...This country, and our entire world, are going completely mad on an express train to hell on earth; and, if we don't put a stop to all of this trend towards greater and greater repression, we will have no one to blame but ourselves. True Germans tried to warn the populace about what was coming, but they weren't listened to either, and were scoffed at as well; then the populace got a rude awakening when it was too late, that those who tried to warn them were right. We can clearly see, if we'd take our blinders and rose-colored glasses off, stop our avoidance and denial, and cease believing the lie(s) that the repeat of history of such facist repression supposedly "can't happen here", that the pattern IS being repeated to a capital "T"! So you see, people, we've got the responsibility to stop this madness, or we are part of the problem and are allowing it to happen. Wake up!...
...See Naomi Wolf's great
Wed, 11/10/2010 - 09:30 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)...See Naomi Wolf's great video presentation, and/or read the book that the presentation is based on, THE END OF AMERICA: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, by going and watching it on my blog at:
www.wolfbritain.com/?p=241#theendofamerica
CORRECTIONS: ...Like in Nazi
Wed, 11/10/2010 - 09:34 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)CORRECTIONS: ...Like in Nazi Germany, it starts out as somewhat "soft fascism", or so-called "friendly" visits "just to check you out and make sure you're not a threat"; and then, as the government gets away with more and more of it, it escalates into "Gestapo-like", "jackbooted" repression, and pretty soon those completely innocent people are "taken away" like in the "1984-like" movie, "V for Vendetta". If you haven't seen both movies, watch them, particularly the latter one. The story has its problems; but, basically it is pretty much right-on, and is a stark warning to all of us that we've got to stand up en masse against all of this madness; otherwise, unless we do so, we have no chance. EVERYONE who remains silent in the face of this repression is complicit in it.
If Awlaki doesn't exist, as
Wed, 11/10/2010 - 10:29 — Anonymous (not verified)If Awlaki doesn't exist, as one of you half-assed dimwits suggested, then there's no problem with assassinating him.
I personally am willing to allow the government to assassinate anyone as long as that person does not exist.
Listen, you who are truly
Wed, 11/10/2010 - 13:45 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)Listen, you who are truly the "dimwit", the person who wrote that comment was NOT saying that Awlaki definitely doesn't exist. They were saying, paraphrasing, 'how can the other commenter know if Awlaki really exists or not; simply because the constantly lying government says he does?' In other words, they were trying to get the other commenter(s) to think for himself and/or themselves, independently; to not take the government's word for anything, or everything, automatically; and to not presume people guilty, especially just because the government, and/or mainstream media, says they are.
The terrorists the people of
Wed, 11/10/2010 - 19:59 — Anonymous (not verified)The terrorists the people of this country need to worry about are in DC manufacturing fairy tales about shoe bombs, package bombs and other utterly ridiculous nonsense while they murder, steal, plot and plan the most heinous crimes against innocent people, including Americans.