Samir Khan, in Charlotte, NC in 2008 (courtesy Associated Press)
As someone who works in an intelligence-related profession, I have been trained not to talk about such subjects in a public forum. When I first heard about the recent news concerning the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born Islamic cleric who reportedly motivated militant Muslims to commit acts of terrorism against the United States, I had mixed feelings. While the mission was a success (via the current campaign of using unmanned technology to undertake tasks considered extremely hazardous for humans), not bringing al-Awlaki to court to demonstrate America's adherence to the rule of law will make him a martyr in the eyes of his followers and does damage to our nation's image on the world stage. This would be a good topic for an opinion piece pitting civil liberties against national security and I am not ready to post my personal positions here just yet.
