Drone Kills Top Al Qaeda Figure

wiredmikey writes with this excerpt from a Wall Street Journal report: "The U.S. ushered in a new CIA-led counterterrorism program in Yemen on Friday, sending unmanned aircraft to kill an American-born cleric who occupied a top place on the U.S.'s anti-terrorist list. The death of Anwar al-Awlaki eliminates a leading figure in Yemen's branch of al Qaeda and one of its most charismatic recruiters. A Web-savvy Islamic preacher with sparkling English, Mr. Awlaki was known for his ability to couch extremist views in ways that appealed to Western youth. He had been linked to suspects in the 2009 Fort Hood, Texas, shooting spree and the botched bombing of a Detroit-bound jet that Christmas."

Comments

Re:War /= civil process.

[ScentCone]

There's no war between the US and Yemen.

So, it's a good thing we didn't attack Yemen. Yemen would definitely know if we attacked Yemen.

Even the worst criminal has a right to a fair trial.

Not if he's in the middle of ranting about his demands and slowly shooting the people he's holding hostage in the bank he's trying to rob, or on the airplane he's trying to hijack, etc. We definitely don't give criminals in the middle of conducting a crime a trial before shooting them in the head if that's the appropriate way to stop the murder they're in the middle of conducting. And Awlaki has been in the middle of conducting murder for some time now, and promising to conduct more, at every single opportunity. He's the guy in the bank with the gun pointed at his next victim, and the special forces who just took him out are the SWAT team outside the bank window.

Whoever ordered this murder ...

You need to re-think your notion of "murder." Murder was Awlaki's history, and stated purpose. Stopping him is not murder.