First off, I didn't say it was not justified. I am merely pointing out that your argument that it was a battlefield killing is dead wrong (pun intended).
Now, what kind of assassinations are justified and which are not? That is an interesting question and I can't say that I have all the answers. I will, however, point out some differences. If a person belongs to an enemy organization and is in enemy territory and you send in covert ops for a targeted killing, it seems like you are on pretty safe ground. That would cover (I believe) all the cases you mention. al-Awlaki, however, was not a declared member of Al Queda (I believe) and was not in enemy territory. Though his support of Al Queda was such that you might argue that it is a difference without a distinction. It still is the case that he was not in enemy territory. So that is one difference to be sure. The other difference is that he is an American citizen. That means something. And if nothing else, it surely must mean a far higher standard of scrutiny for extra-judicial killing by his own government. Maybe the Obama admin meets that scrutiny. I think they might, though I also have doubts. But do not pretend that it is anything at all like trying to take out Yamamoto behind enemy lines. Judah On Tue, Oct 15, 2013 at 4:07 PM, Larry C. Lyons <[email protected]>wrote: > > What do snipers do? During Vietnam there was an active program of > assassinating Viet Cong leadership and commisars. Same happened in WW2 - > e.g., Admiral Yamamoto? Seriously what is the difference? > > > On Tue, Oct 15, 2013 at 6:44 PM, Judah McAuley <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > > I think you are conflating battles and assassinations, Larry. al-Awlaki > was > > an assassination. They tracked him down, targeted him, killed him. It was > > specific to him and not part of any battle. You can argue that it was a > > justified assassination if you like but I don't think it is reasonable to > > argue that it was a kill in a active battlefield. > > > > The Bush Admin tried to get us to believe that the whole world is active > > battlefield. Get 'em there, before they get us here! I rejected that > > argument then and I reject it now. I don't care what party is pushing > that > > line, that's not the world I want to live in and I don't believe it is > > true. > > > > Judah > > > > > > On Tue, Oct 15, 2013 at 3:40 PM, Larry C. Lyons <[email protected] > > >wrote: > > > > > > > > the boy and his father were in arms against the US. It is no different > > than > > > the estimated 3000 Americans who fought for Germany in WW I and the > 1500 > > or > > > so who fought for the Nazi's in WW2. And in both cases (WW1 and WW2) > > those > > > Americans were killed without due process for the same reasons. They > were > > > trying to kill other Americans in effectively an active battlefield. > > > > > > > > > On Tue, Oct 15, 2013 at 5:39 PM, LRS Scout <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > We aren't at war with Yemen. And we don't kill children for the sins > > of > > > > their fathers. > > > > > > > > How about illegal search and seizure? > > > > > > > > Can anyone here deny that he is guilty of that beyond a reasonable > > doubt? > > > > On Oct 15, 2013 5:35 PM, "Judah McAuley" <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Obama ordered a drone strike targeting and killing a US citizen, > > Anwar > > > > > al-Awlaki. His son (who was 16) was also killed is a subsequent > drone > > > > > strike but it is not clear that he was specifically targeted. Eric > > > Holder > > > > > has publicly admitted that al-Awlaki was targeted and that they > knew > > he > > > > was > > > > > a citizen. His citizenship was never revoked. The administration > > > > justified > > > > > it under rules of war being conducted on foreign soil. > > > > > > > > > > Judah > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Tue, Oct 15, 2013 at 2:31 PM, Justin Scott < > > [email protected] > > > > > >wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Murder > > > > > > > He admitted it > > > > > > > > > > > > Oh? Who? What evidence? (I'm asking seriously, I don't follow > > > > > > politics much but if Obama had knocked someone off during a > > > > > > convenience store robbery I'm sure I'd have heard about it, so it > > > must > > > > > > be more nuanced than that). > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -Justin > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:367820 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
