To the Editor:
In a recent LCN, a letter writer claimed that Anwar al-Awlaki, the American citizen living in Yemen who was killed by a predator drone missile, “was killed without due process and without any effort to capture, arrest and try him,” and “his killing was based on the mere assertion that he is a dangerous member of a terrorist organization.” (“Assassinated by the United States,” LCN, Page 4, 10/6/11)
The right of writs of habeas corpus (right to trial) are in fact granted in Article 1, Section 9, clause 2 of the Constitution, which states, “The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.”
So, while our legislators in Washington discuss amending the Constitution or determining a better method of revoking American citizenship papers, the removal of this one man will most certainly save hundreds of American military lives. This individual has already been responsible for the “murder” of hundreds of innocent people throughout the world.
In retrospect, the Justice Dept. should have first invited him to the U.S. to defend his call to war against the United States. His video appearance(s) on Al Jazeera TV constituted more than a “mere assertion” of killing Americans. He put forth a blueprint for murdering his fellow American citizens.
The man was a traitor to his country and traitors must pay the consequences. Even though we are 10 years into an undeclared war, it is “war,” and with it, rules of combat change. The fact that he was, in effect, found guilty and sentenced to death “in absentia” is unfortunate and there should be a better legal way to rout out American citizen-traitors of the United States.
The man was an enemy agent, plain and simple.
On Sept. 24, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation suspending the writ of habeas corpus nationwide, along with declaring martial law to protect the Union and its American citizens during the Civil War.
One could argue that Mr. al-Awlaki, as a member of al Qaeda, the organization responsible for attacking the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, had a mission to destroy America. As such, that 9/11 attack is also considered an “invasion” (see Article 1-9-2) on American soil, and that alone would suspend his right to a trial. He, as an enemy leader, violated his own American Constitutional rights, so no pity should be granted.
What would Lincoln do? I think most of us know. He would do whatever it took to protect America and in particular, our young service personnel from harm’s way.
David Kolodin
Pemaquid Harbor
