Rules of War

In September two U.S born men who became terrorists in Al Qaeda were killed by unmanned drones in Yemen. This attack sparked debate on whether or not this action even legal since both men were U.S citizens and in the Constitution all citizens are supposed to get a fair trial. According to the Los Angeles Times the two men who were killed by the unmanned drones were American born Anwar Awlaki and Samir Khan. Human rights activists see this as a violation of our Constitutional rights but fail to understand that in war the rules are different and they should be. President Obama stated that "Awlaki was the leader of external operations for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Penninsula and in that role he took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans." The legality of this action, according to Georgia law professor Diane Marie Amann, is based on whether or not the U.S's involvment in the Middle East is a police action, which would make it illegal, or an armed conflict which would permit the killing. I strongly believe that we are in a state of armed conflict and my belief of this stems from the fact that I have been to the Middle East myself and have fought in this armed conflict and lost many friends due to it. For people to say that this action of killing known terrorists is inhumane dont know the bitter taste of of war. The two men that were killed have been linked to the Christmas Day bomber and also the massacre at Fort Hood, this shows me that these men are treating this as a war and if we want to come out successful we have to treat this in the same manner. Killing these two men is completely legal according to a 1942 Supreme Court decision Ex Parte Quirin where American born Nazi's who were killed in war and that action was completely sanctioned. In Ex Parte Quirin, the men accused were found to be "enemy beligerents" and that their punishment under the laws of war was legal. I truly believe that if we intend on reducing American casualties we have to fight fire with fire because the people that hate us aren't kind and they do not have restraint when it comes to killing Americans. As i have seen first hand our enemy is a dedicated and smart enemy that we underestimate far to much and if we intend on having even a shred of hope for winning this war we are going to have to start being a little more aggresive in our tactics.