U.S. Made Legal Case for Awlaki Kill

A secret memo circulated in the Obama administration determined that the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki would be legal only if he could not be taken alive. The memo was written roughly a year before his death. The Obama administration has so far refused to acknowledge its role in the killing. Despite an executive order against assassinations and protections in the Bill of Rights, the legal analysis of the memo still concluded Awlaki could be killed if he could not be taken alive. But the memo also does not analyze the quality of the evidence against him. The family of another American killed in the assassination said, “Was this style of execution the only solution? Why couldn’t there have been a capture and a trial?”