Al Awlaki assassination raises legal questions

Friday’s assassination of the radical Yemeni-American imam Anwar al Awlaki by a U.S. drone has sparked fierce criticism from those who argue his death raises serious questions about the government’s counterterror policies.

In particular legal authorities, lawmakers, and opinion leaders expressed grave concern over the ability of the government to kill an American citizen with no judicial process far from a combat zone.

In a speech last Friday, Representative Ron Paul (R- Texas) argued al Awlaki should have been tried in court before being killed by a U.S. drone strike in Yemen.

“Al Awlaki was born here, he’s an American citizen, he was never tried or charged for any crimes,” Representative Paul said. “To start assassinating American citizens without charges – we should think very seriously about this.”

Paul added that Timothy McVeigh, the terrorist behind the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, was put on trial for his alleged crimes, convicted, and sentenced to death – the process which al Awlaki should also have undergone.

"If the American people accept this blindly and casually, that we now have an accepted practice of the president assassinating people who he thinks are bad guys, I think it's sad," Paul said.

Liberal columnist and former civil rights lawyer Glenn Greenwald echoed Paul’s sentiments on his blog when he wrote, “Barack Obama has appointed himself judge, jury, and executioner.”

Greenwald added, “The U.S. Government has seized and exercised exactly the power the Fifth Amendment was designed to bar (“No person shall be deprived of life without due process of law”).”

Meanwhile, Jameel Jaffer, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, expressed frustration with the lack of transparency behind the decision to kill al Awlaki.

“All the standards are secret, all the evidence is secret,” Jaffer said. “The CIA refuses to even confirm or deny that there is a targeted killing program.”

Following the 9/11 attacks, President Bush authorized the CIA and the military to kill U.S. citizens abroad if strong evidence existed that an American was involved in organizing or carrying out terrorist actions against the United States.

According to a former intelligence official speaking anonymously to the Washington Post, the evidence has to meet a certain, defined threshold. The person, for instance, has to pose "a continuing and imminent threat to U.S. persons and interests," the former official said.

More recently, a senior Obama administration official, speaking anonymously to the Washington Post, said in January 2010, shortly after al Awlaki was added