POLITICO: Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born cleric and an alleged terror suspect with links to al Qaeda in Yemen, was killed today.
Does the al-Awlaki hit – following the May 2011 takeout of Osama bin Laden – undercut charges by Republican presidential candidates that President Barack Obama hasn’t been aggressive enough in the fight against terrorism? And will this hasten calls to withdraw troops from Afghanistan to focus instead on terror threats in Yemen and elsewhere?
BENJAMIN: The death of any human being diminishes all of us. But Anwar Al-Awlaki and Samir Khan countenanced, counseled and plotted the deaths of their fellow Americans. President Obama has both constitutional and moral obligations to protect Americans from “enemies both foreign and domestic.”
Unlike some GOP candidates, President Obama does not see all Arabs and Muslims as enemies of America and the West. And unlike the neo-isolationist GOP candidates, Obama sees the value of engaging with the Muslim world, Europe and the U.N. Obama is proving that self-defense and global cooperation can indeed go hand-in-hand.
The drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan are unrelated to this event in Yemen or counter-terrorism activities across the globe. The DoD, CIA and Homeland Security can multitask.
Our domestic policy needs the same kind of focus and operational advisers. President Obama and the American people deserve cooperation from Wall Street and the business elites of our nation in overcoming the economic threat posed by this double-dip recession.
Do you think President Obama made the right decision in ordering the drone attack?
Sound off in the comments section below!
Peace!
I follow the school of thought of Malcolm X, who clarified the matter when he
said, “America’s domestic policy is the same as it’s international policy”. I
see the tragic irony in the fact that just days before this state sanctioned
murder, in Yemen, another state sanctioned murder took place in Georgia( Troy
Davis).Now some people may say that the two cases are not the same because,
Awlaki was a terrorist and in the case of Troy Davis, compelling evidence had
come forth indicating that he was innocent. First and foremost is the fact that,
the system broke it’s own rules on both counts. In the Awlaki case the family of
Awlaki challenged the gov’t on targeting American citizens for execution without
due process and they lost the case. What happened to innocent until proven
guilty? If you say that Awlaki was at war with the U.S. and it was unrealistic
to try and arrest him in order to bring him to trial, then the question must be
asked, why the special legislation with language that specifically covers the
targeting of American citizens? If you are trying to kill me, I will try to kill
you first. [T]here is no need for special legislation, this is just a fact of
life. In conclusion, The executions of Sean Bell, the Muslim Imam in Detroit, the young Blackman in Oakland, Troy Davis, and countless others, is conclusive proof that 1) extra judicial killings against Black people has been an ongoing policy in America since we were brought to these shores 2)The legislation makes the unwritten policy, official, and
expands it to include anyone who is classified as an enemy of the U.S. empire.
Al-hajj Shahid