
Killing Awlaki without first getting a court order sets a dangerous precedent for a country that has always valued its fealty to its constitution. And it certainly seems as if the Obama administration has violated the Fifth Amendment to the US constitution which says: “No person shall be deprived of life without due process of law.” Add this to the fact that Obama launched a war in Libya without first seeking approval of Congress, again as mandated by law, and one finds an imperial presidency that is outdoing even George W Bush.
Questions of legality aside, the benefits of targeted killings such as that of Awlaki also need to be considered. In order to get Awlaki, the US has had to ally with the ruthless Yemeni President Saleh, a leader who has made killing his own citizens into a sport. Awlaki may also not have been too important in the al Qaeda set-up but now that he has been killed, the terrorist outfit will undoubtedly venerate him as a martyr and use his death to attract more people to their cause. Obama has failed to learn the most important lesson of the Bush presidency: terrorism is best fought with brains, not brawn.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 3rd, 2011.
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