Al-Awlaki: The reality, not the hype

First, a couple of things in the AP story of note:

Anwar al-Awlaki, and a second American, Samir Khan, were killed by a joint CIA-U.S. military air strike on their convoy in Yemen early Friday, U.S. officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Both men played key roles in inspiring attacks against the U.S., and their killings are a devastating double blow to al-Qaida’s most dangerous franchise.

Editorializing by the AP, based on Obama administration talking points. Truth? We have no idea of whether or not this was "al-Qaida’s most dangerous franchise."

Second from the AP?

Obama refused to say whether he’d personally given the order for al-Awlaki to be killed, when  asked in an appearance on a syndicated radio show Friday afternoon.

Fear of a war crimes charge, either from a looking-backward future GOP president, or a country like Spain and aggressive judge Baltasar Garzon, hauling you before the International Criminal Court? (Hopefully, after being "defrocked" of your Nobel Peace Prize; in turn, that should teach the prize committee to stop making blatant political statements with the award.)

Next, via the Washington Post, the Department of Justice's secret memo for the Mafia-style hit wasn't drafted without the John Yoo replacements of Team Obama:

“What constitutes due process in this case is a due process in war,” said one of the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss closely held deliberations within the administration.

Nice language, eh?

Of course, with that type of due process, you don't need to prove anything against anybody; just alleged they are "plotting." As is done here, from the same story:

“As a general matter, it would be entirely lawful for the United States to target high-level leaders of enemy forces, regardless of their nationality, who are plotting to kill Americans both under the authority provided by Congress in its use of military force in the armed conflict with al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated forces as well as established international law that recognizes our right of self-defense,” an administration official said in a statement Friday.

Reality, of course, is that the government hasn't proven a thing of this sort against him.

Team Obama claims he played a direct role in the plot to blow up a jet over Detroit and other things. Here's Dear Leader, from the AP story:

He directed the failed attempt to blow up an airplane on Christmas Day in 2009. He directed the failed attempt to blow up U.S. cargo planes in 2010.

But, noooo, can't show anybody that. State secrets, you know. Executive privilege, you know.

We heard this all before. In the period 2001-2009, from the same address, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Calls for Dear Leader to "restore the rule of law"? Great rhetoric; too bad they don't accord at all with reality.

And, an allegedly reasonable conservative like Jack Goldsmith is also wrong.That includes parroting the idea that due process is contextual. Boy, wouldn't every defense lawyer like to claim that "contextual" cuts the other way? And, the idea of claiming that al-Awlaki is like WWII Japanese admiral Yamomoto (let alone implying "we" have proof of that) is laughable.

Bipartisan foreign policy establishmentarianism.

As I've said before, Dear Leader is Just.Another.Politician.™. And, he and George W. Bush together first created an enemy, then a martyr.