So says the Obama White House. And they did just that in the killing of Anwar al-Alawki, an American citizen living in Yemen.
White House and Justice Department officials say they had strong evidence that he was involved in major terrorism against the US. Which makes me wonder why they did not find him, arrest him, and bring him to trial. If the issue is that he would have been killed in such an attempt, fine, and that would be perfectly legal under US and international law given the right to kill in self-defense as part of a legitimate military or law enforcement operation.
Instead of that, they found him and shot him dead from the sky using a Predator Drone missile. Without trial (thus without due process).
Today on NPR I heard a Justice Department official--the Attorney General himself--say we are entitled to "due process" but not "judicial process." Yes, he actually said that.
To the credit of NPR, at least they covered it!
And the issue has generated some critical coverage in the past. Here are two examples:
http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/obama-s-secret-targeted-killing-program-prompts-aclu-lawsuit
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/10/02-4
And today even Fox News has a story about it!
