All Points: The presidential power of targeted killing

President Barack Obama claims unilateral authority to kill suspected al Qaeda militants, even Americans, in locations away from fields of battle and without judicial oversight or public accountability.

He won't release a Justice Department memo giving the legal and factual basis for a 2011 drone strike in Yemen that targeted and killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen.

A federal judge has agreed with the president. The New York Times called it a "dangerous view of executive power."

We asked our readers to comment. Here's what they said:

Not a president, a king

The killing of Anwar al-Awlaki is a symptom of the very dangerous trend of ignoring the Constitution. Specifically, all three branches of government continue to dilute our Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights.

The assassination of al-Awlaki was lawless. When the president acts lawlessly, he is not a president, but a king. The U.S. government deprived al-Awlaki of his Sixth Amendment rights to trial before a judge and habeas corpus.

Congress has relinquished its power to the president. We saw it again this month with the renewal of FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act). It started under George W. Bush, and we continue to live in an era of executive branch unilateralism.

Although candidate Obama was very outspoken about Bush administration tactics, he kept and, in many cases, expanded each one.

Any member of Congress who voted for FISA should be voted out of office.

-- Jon Perry, Fort Worth

Not enough questions answered

Too much is unknown to answer. If more is known, will it affect our intelligence system? Why pass judgment solely on one person, the president? What did Anwar al-Awlaki do and plan to do, and what are others like him planning to do? Did the president get information and advice from our CIA, secretary of defense, military leaders and so forth that is not advisable to reveal? These are all very difficult points.

-- George J. Anthony, Fort Worth

Must have judicial review

No action by any government official should be immune from judicial review. Judges are the next-to-last line of defense of our rights. After them, all that remains is the right of revolution.

The EPA should investigate whether there's something in the water at the White House. No matter whom we elect, he turns into an Imperial President. The community organizer who campaigned on hope and change is now the drone-inator. It's like a disease.

-- George Michael Sherry, Fort Worth

Headed for a dictatorship

The editorial statement in The New York Times was too mild: a "dangerous view of executive power." Our Founding Fathers created a republic, not a dictatorship, which is where Obama appears to be leading us.

Although I'm no supporter of President Bush, when he did this, there was an uproar in the press. Where is it now? Is it possible that one day we will look back and ask, "Did we conduct ourselves like sheep being led to slaughter?"

-- Virginia Wilber, Fort Worth

Open-ended in the extreme

You're asking the wrong audience! With the signing of the so-called War Powers Acts, we have regularly given presidents extraordinary powers in order to "make war." Congress was "asked" and agreed to, the Bush 43-era Patriot Act and Obama's National Defense Authorization Act. These acts are typically open-ended in the extreme.

Why are you asking this now? Romney thought Russia was the enemy. But then, the Star-Telegram recommended him for president, didn't it?

-- David T. Johnson, North Richland Hills

A target on their back

In 2011, Anwar al-Awlaki and his 16-year-old son, another U.S. citizen, were killed by missiles fired from U.S. drones. The father was an alleged terrorist. Supposing he was walking down the street in Washington, D.C. Would he have been struck by a missile, shot in the back or clubbed to death?

At one time, I would have thought he would be arrested and given a fair trial in a U.S. court. U.S. citizens are supposed have a right to face their accusers and have a trial by a jury of their peers.

If you're on this president's kill list, you're apparently fair game anywhere in the world. Maybe that's why gun sales are so brisk. Americans feel there's a target on their back.

-- Clyde Picht, Fort Worth

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