Anwar al-Awlaki assassination carried out

add to barack obama's accomplishments his historic killing of a native-born US citizen by presidential decree:

Anwar al-Awlaki killed in Yemen - CBS News: "Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born radical Islamic preacher who rose to the highest level of al Qaeda's franchise in Yemen, has been killed.

Al-Awlaki, born in New Mexico, has been linked to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's (AQAP) attempted bombing of a U.S. passenger jet over Detroit on Christmas day, 2009, and was thought to be a leader of the group.

A U.S. government official confirms to CBS News senior security correspondent David Martin that al-Awlaki was killed. Yemen's Defense Ministry was first to tell CBS News of the strike, but given previous reports which turned out to be erroneous, the relatively rapid U.S. confirmation is crucial, and bolsters witness accounts that it was a U.S. drone strike that killed the al Qaeda figure."

there's absolutely no acknowledgement of the legal and constitutional issues raised by this death by CIA drone strike. obama has simply created a precedent whereby enemies of the state in time of undeclared war against a tactic can be eliminated with extreme prejudice -- but without niceties like the rule of law, due process and the other civilized values we impute to ourselves, but fault others for not paying sufficient lip service to them.

was al-awlaki a terrorist? a criminal? who found him guilty of anything, in what court proceeding was evidence of his guilt produced, and what jury found him liable for the death penalty? what treaty or rule of international law empowers the US to rain death on people in a far-off land -- an act that under other circumstances would be a violation of yemeni sovereignty and an act of war?

the US government lays out, bit by bit, a legal framework for killing its opponents, no matter who or where they are -- citizen or not. if this makes you feel safer, it's false comfort.