by Kerry Thomas
October 5, 2011
The list of scandals involving the Obama Administration grows daily. While every U.S. President in the last 50 years has arguably violated his oath to the Constitution, the killing of an American citizen in Yemen by American forces has to rank near the top of unconstitutional acts committed by an American Commander-In-Chief.
Anwar al-Awlaki was a
natural-born U.S. citizen who was killed on September 30 by American military forces
in Yemen. The fact that he was a U.S.
citizen afforded him the protection of the U.S. Constitution, which places very
specific constraints on the powers of the Commander-In-Chief.
Through the USA PATRIOT Act (PL
107-56), Congress conferred broad powers to the Commander-In-Chief to combat
terrorism. Under that Act, simply labeling
someone as a “terrorist” triggers many provisions of that Act. However, no mere piece of legislation can
override the constraints of the Constitution.
The 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
states, in part, that “No person shall be…deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” Article I, Section 8 grants Congress the power
to declare war. Article II, Section 2
names the President as Commander-In-Chief of U.S. military forces. Article III, Section 3, defines treason
against the United States, and says, in part, that “No person shall be
convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt
act, or on confession in open court.”
This clause presupposes that a person accused of committing treason
against the United States shall be afforded the right to a trail.
While it seems obvious that this
American citizen did commit treason against the United States (of which
conviction can incur the death penalty), that charge was never allowed to be made
in a court of law, as required by the Constitution.
Reports
indicate that Anwar al-Awlaki was identified and followed for eight days before
he was killed by an American drone missile strike in Yemen. Unlike other terrorists killed or captured
in Iraq or Afghanistan, al-Awlaki was not killed on the field of battle. He was targeted and deliberately killed in
Yemen, a country against which Congress has not declared war.
It is not
clear whether President Obama directly ordered the missile strike that killed al-Awlaki,
as he did with Osama bin Laden.
Nevertheless, as Commander-In-Chief, he is directly accountable for the
strike.
Given the
eight day timeline, American and Yemeni forces could have attempted to capture
al-Awlaki and bring him to trial, something President Obama has said he wants
to do with other captured terrorist suspects.
Had al-Awlaki died in such an attempt, no questions of Constitutionality
would have been raised. But no such
attempt at capture was made.
In this
case, President Obama acted as judge, jury, and executioner of an American
citizen, depriving him of his Constitutional rights to due process of law.
No matter
hoe egregious his actions against the United States and its citizens, the
killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, or any American citizen, by the Commander-In-Chief
should give every American pause to consider the Constitutional ramifications
of such an act.