Is it lawful for the United States government to intentionally kill an American citizen, without trial or hearing of any kind? This question was explicitly raised by the U.S. government’s use of a drone to kill Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen in September 2011. Al-Awlaki, a jihadist born in the U.S., was the subject of a lengthy and successful effort by American forces to locate and eliminate him. (The name is sometimes spelled “Aulaki.”)
No court has ruled on this or any other targeted killing by U.S. forces. A 2001 suit by Awlaki’s father to enjoin the effort was dismissed on standing grounds by the U.S. district court in the District of Columbia (Al-Aulaki v. Obama, 727 F.Supp.2d 1). It has been left to the spokespersons for the administration to justify the killing. The administration has done so, even though for the first time earlier this year, it was forced to officially admit the existence of the drone program.
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