Lest We Forget

Across the political spectrum, from the American Civil Liberties Union to the Council on American-Islamic Relations to Constitutional fetishist and Republican Presidential candidate Texas Representative Ron Paul, the "assassination" of Anwar al-Awlaki is being denounced. Anwar al-Awlaki happened to be born in New Mexico which would typically have conferred the full rights and protections of US citizenship, but what the civil libertarians are missing is that al-Awlaki had to know that he was among America's most wanted men. Just like a criminal fleeing an armed robbery who refuses to let pursuing officers see his (empty) hands, al-Awlaki was well aware he was being pursued and had reputedly even previously survived a drone-launched rocket attack that had just missed him. If al-Awlaki had wanted to ensure his own survival at least through whatever criminal proceedings that would have been launched against him, he could have given up his role recruiting suicide attackers for al-Qaeda and simply presented himself to any US consulate or embassy, who would gladly have taken him into American custody. Anwar al-Awlaki decided he would wage war against the country of his birth. He chose to live as a terrorist and consequent to his own conduct, died like one.