Glenn Greenwald: With al-Awlaki, US Launches New Era of Killing US Citizens Without Charge

[The Northerner]

Run time: 15:06 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh9ZrJEHXEQ   Posted on YouTube: September 30, 2011 By YouTube Member: democracynow Views on YouTube: 5242   Posted on DU: October 04, 2011 By DU Member: The Northerner Views on DU: 310

 
www.DemocracyNow.org - The United States has confirmed the killing of the radical Yemeni-American cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, in northern Yemen. The Obama administration says Al-Awlaki is one of the most influential al-Qaeda operatives on its 'most wanted' list. In response to news of al-Awlaki's death, constitutional scholar Glenn Greenwald and others argue the assassination of U.S. citizens without due process has now has become a reality. "One of the bizarre aspects of it is that media and government reports try to sell al-Awlaki as some grand terrorist mastermind ... describing him as the new bin Laden. The United States government needs a terrorist mastermind to replace Osama bin Laden to justify this type of endless war ... For a while, al-Awlaki was going to serve that function," Greenwald tells Democracy Now! Sept. 30. "If you are somebody that believes the President of the United States has the power to order your fellow citizens murdered, assassinated, killed without a shred of due process ... then you are really declaring yourself to be as pure of an authoritarian as it gets."