Eavesdrop on Your Cell? No. Kill You? Yes.

Greg Marx runs through some tepid coverage of the Obama administration's decision to authorize the extrajudicial killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen accused of fomenting terrorist violence.

Here's the money quote:

To eavesdrop on the terrorism suspect who was added to the target list, the American-born radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is hiding in Yemen, intelligence agencies would have to get a court warrant. But designating him for death, as C.I.A. officials did early this year with the National Security Council’s approval, required no judicial review.

“Congress has protected Awlaki’s cellphone calls,” said Vicki Divoll, a former C.I.A. lawyer who now teaches at the United States Naval Academy. “But it has not provided any protections for his life. That makes no sense.”

I'd have to agree.

I can't imagine that the Obama administration's proposed solution can stand up to legal scrutiy.

I get that a total bar on deliberate attacks on Americans can result in some crazy situations
-High value foreign target pals around with nobody American for protection
-US troops encounter a known American fighter on the battlefield and are not allowed to call in airstrikes or artillery.

You would think that military rules of engagement could deal with most of these situations - - but the idea that the US can deliberately assassinate an American without some kind of external check is about as contrary to the idea of secure in ones person as you can get.

This sh!t's gotta stop.