Is the administration hypocritical in dealing with terrorists?

What I find interesting that the administration fights so hard to give some enemy combatants all the rights of US citizens and then turns around and kills two American Citizens without a second thought to the Constitution. They just declare them enemies of the state and then execute them.

One of the very few times I will agree with you Ted.

Great points he ParaTed.

Just out of curiosity: what makes an American life more valuable than a non-American life? (The obvious implication here being: should we not value ALL human life?)

This is an interesting debate because based on International Law this may or may not be legal. If in fact we are at war and they are the enemy then it is legal. The question comes in is the War Powers Act the same as a formal declaration of war. Our Constitution requires that congress has the power to declare war and not the President. Can Congress give its power to the President?

Hawaii: Has nothing to do with value. It has to do with responsibility. If your dog chews up your house, do you call the police, and have it taken away? No, because its your dog. Your dog is your responsibility. Now what if someone else's dog chews up your house? Well then you call the police, have the dog taken away, and fine the owners for the damager their dog did. Why? Is your dog somehow 'more valuable' than their dog? Shouldn't all pets be valued the same? Sure. But when your dog did it, it was a violation between yourselves. When someone else's dog ruined your home, it was a violation between different parties. You're not responsible for their dog, thus the rules are different. Similarly, the American Constitution only provides protections for Americans. Because our countries government has a responsibility to the America people. The American government does not have a responsibility to the French people, or the British people or any other people. Similarly, you don't see the French government having a responsibility to American people either. You'll note that when Jersey Shores went to France, they banned them from going into a number of places, included dozens of monuments. Wah... don't they value all people, not just French people? Of course they do, but they also have a responsibility to the people of France, not to some drunk idiots from America. The bottom line is, the American government has a responsibility to protect its citizens from lethal enemies, such as these scum from the middle east. I have no problem with my government justifiably shooting some terrorists. However, you can't shoot US citizens with the same justification you can foreign terrorists. The same government that has a constitutional obligation to protect the citizens, also has a constitutional requirement to give those same US citizens a fair trial. The question is, do they lose their citizenship in such an event that they are aiding the enemy is direct combat with US troops? Or are we obligated to try and apprehend them alive, take them back to the US and make them stand trial. I don't know.

What they deserve is what is granted them under the Geneva Convention and international law. What would make it simpler is if the US Congress issued a formal declaration of War. It would also be nice if the enemy were to follow the same rules.

Oh, and just as an after thought, I am well aware that these values have already been tarnished quite a bit. I just think it better not to continue down that path...

So how do you do a fair trial. Do you wait for them to klll more people. A police officer, when endanger has to right ot protect themself and shot the offender. What is the difference. The US has first hand knowledge this guy is killing Americans. Are we supposed to sit back and le this continue. How about the millions of people that have been effected by this. What you say is a good thought, but is not realistic. The only problem I have is that we can have to limit the power of the government to do this. Under situations like this, after going through the proper channels, the bad guy has to be taken down. He will not resist one moment to kill one of us. This is self defense, and it is the responsibility of the Federal government to protect the US citizens from foreign threats, even if is a fellow US citizen that is over there causing the problem. We just have to make sure that this is balanced, and this is why we have the three department of government to provide the checks and balances.

I would agree that both sides use it as a political ploy. According to a spokesman for the administration said that Yemen was cooperating with the US. What needed to happen is the US needed to make a case to the public that these two were a threat. What has been said is that al-Awlaki is connected in some way to different attempts against the US. When such action is necessary there should be proof that it was needed. I realize that providing too much information can hurt our ability to track and capture the terrorist but with some high profile cases the public has a right to know why the decision was made. I still think it is better to capture them alive and get as much information from them as possible and as secretly as possible.

Bob, with all due respect you sound like Arlen Specter in 1998. Does it take either one of these people to admit they have planned attacks against us and want to kill Americans? Because one of them has done that. At 9:03 AM on September 11 did you know who was behind these attacks? I did, and the leaders of this country didn't go after Bin Laden then, and they could have stopped that attack. I give Obama credit for doing what Clinton couldn't do, and what Bush WOULDN'T do. I think it is time that we wake up to the reality of what is going on in this country when it comes to national security.

Obviously. But I believe if this particular administration was able to keep its base quiet through it all, they would actually attempt to arrest terrorists and bring them all to NY to stand trial. I believe that that's something they believe in. But since there's such a stink over the topic, they have opted for the more efficient route when opportunity presents itself. And I won't hate. I'm thankful for that. I'd much rather these scum catch a blast than get off on a technicality.

I don't think they had the chance to capture these guys. If so, how many of our mililtary would be killed trying to capture these guys. A strike drone is far more efficient and less costly in the lives of our military.