“Americans abroad who have join terrorist groups”
Have they? I wouldn’t necessarily support assassinating them, either. But how do you know they’ve joined terrorist groups? You’re content to take the White House’s word for it? And is merely joining up enough? What if you’ve chatted online and met with a bad guy or two buy haven’t actually done anything, let alone entered the field of combat or done harm to the US? Bombs away?
I’m pretty satisfied that Anwar al-Awlaki had firmly joined al-Qaeda based on his public declarations of that fact. He had not only joined, al-Awlaki was a pretty big deal in that particular terrorist group.
I’d have to take it on a case by case basis, but if a US citizen runs off and joins a violent terrorist group bent on attacking America, I am not troubled if the government
blows them up right along with their terrorist buddies.
I agree with Bolton. This seems consistent with Bush’s policies in the war against terror, and my hunch is that if al-Awlaki was dispatched during Bush’s time in office the overwhelming vast majority of conservatives would have applauded (as is I think the majority support drone strikes to take out these terrorist scum). Additionally, this policy has broad public support and fighting with Obama over it only makes him look like some kind of foreign/defense policy tough guy and conservatives appear weak. Do we really want to cede the tough-on-defense image to Obama here in order to protect the likes of Anwar al-Awlaki? I don’t think so. Krauthammer and Bolton are right in my opinion.