# So now we're assassinating our own citizens? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 8, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-were-assassinating-our-own-citizens/581120 "2011-05-08T02:50:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-were-assassinating-our-own-citizens/581120/221 "2011-05-11T15:31:22Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Is Yemen harboring terrorists? The official government of Yemen says their not, correct? We’re not targeting Yemen. We’re targeting people in Yemen with the permission of the government. That’s well within the realm of authority given by the AUMF. If it were England, we wouldn’t need to do this ourselves. It’s just not a good analogy. > [@](#): > > Ok. I’ll concede that the AUMF does not exempt any nation by name from the use of military force to get terrorists. > > But it seems to me to be insane to think that _any_ U.S. President should treat England the same as we have been treating Yemen or Pakistan. I think a great stink would be raised if he unilaterally attacked England. See above. > [@](#): > > I don’t think the Pakistani issue is quite settled yet, although I am guessing that the U.S. will just throw money at government of Pakistan to mollify them. Probably. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-were-assassinating-our-own-citizens/581120/222 "2011-05-11T15:36:29Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > We’re not targeting Yemen. We’re targeting people in Yemen with the permission of the government. That’s well within the realm of authority given by the AUMF. If it were England, we wouldn’t need to do this ourselves. It’s just not a good analogy. Yeah. ☹ My analogies always stink. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-were-assassinating-our-own-citizens/581120/223 "2011-05-11T15:40:21Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > We’re not targeting Yemen. We’re targeting people in Yemen with the permission of the government. And to that end, I think there was a long break in drone strikes on Yemen (ending with the shot at al-Awlaki) because Saleh didn’t want any more of them due to his precarious hold on power. > [@mlees](#): > > I don’t think the Pakistani issue is quite settled yet, although I am guessing that the U.S. will just throw money at government of Pakistan to mollify them. Right. I mean, why stop now? That’s worked out so well over the last nine years. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-were-assassinating-our-own-citizens/581120/224 "2011-05-14T01:21:31Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > **Martin** , wasn’t **mlees** ’s listed procedure pretty much what was done in the case of the [Graf Spee](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_cruiser_Admiral_Graf_Spee)? Chase the damaged Spee into Montevideo, ask the Uruguayans to inter the vessel, and sit outside territorial water to blast the Spee into scrap if it tried to leave. > > As far as AQ is concerned, I’m not sure why the legal framework for how to deal with pirates hasn’t been extended to also cover worldwide terrorists like AQ. It seems a lot of the same prudential concerns apply in both cases. I guess. However obviously that principle was not very important since the UK invaded a neutral country during the war. Do you agree/disagree that is a more prominent and telling statement about the view on treatment of the neutral parties was during WWII than an incident involving a lone naval vessel–and one in which the British holding back may have been about tactical deployment more than political concerns. In any case, I already said I have no idea what the Hague requirements are. But if you note how Iceland was treated in WWII you will see that if strict respect for neutral parties is a major underpinning of Hague obligations it was not observed during WWII. This is also a significant sidetrack from the issue of how appropriate the targeting of al-Awlaki would be vis-a-vis his civil rights. Even if we violated international law to kill him it wouldn’t be a violation of his civil rights but it may be a violation of treaty obligations. American civil rights are not based upon treaty obligations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-were-assassinating-our-own-citizens/581120.md?page=11)