The good news; Gadahn droned
Fox News says that the President is about to announce that the good news is that we droned Adam Gadahn, the American who went over to the Taliban and al Qaeda back in 2004. The bad news is that we also droned Warren Weinstein, a hostage being held by the Taliban since 2011.
According to Fox, the pentagon says that neither the terrorist nor the hostage were supposed to be in the kill zone of the drone attack.
Apparently, this happened back in January.
Category: Terror War
Don’t you have the good news/bad news backwards here? For our current President the good news would be the death of a Jew, and the bad news would be the death of a Muslim.
Your suffering is over, Mr. Weinstein. RIP.
RIP, Mr, Weinstein.
I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if it turns out that Mr. Weinstein was murdered by those goat-molesting Taliban fleabags and they said he was killed in that attack for propaganda purposes. Rest In Peace, Mr. Weinstein.
And good riddance to Adam Gadahn the goat-molesting turncoat, may he roast in hell!!
Agreed
So once again Barry is judge, jury and executioner for an American citizen? Granted the guy was a traitor and under indictment, but he wasn’t tried, convicted, and sentenced by a jury of his peers.
TWO American citizens.
As far as I’m concerned, he forfeited that right along with his U.S. Citizenship the moment he joined ranks with the taliban’s goat molesters. I remember reading the first page of my passport where it clearly stated that one’s US Citizenship is terminated once they either renounce it in front of US Consular Officials overseas or as soon as they join a foreign military, and he joined a militant entity sworn to destroy the United States and our way of life, may he roast in hell.
If he’s in a war zone and fighting for the enemy, I prefer we drone him. He wasn’t killed while he was singing in a choir, was he? I’m sick of supporting these MF’s for the rest of their miserable lives.
I do feel sorry for the hostage. I think we can expect any American hostages to be kept close to their captors, so they have the satisfaction of making us kill innocents. If they’re American innocents, so much the better, in the view of that human filth.
I also have qualms over the JJ&E killing of American citizens. There should be due process to remove citizenship before the POTUS can give the order to assassinate. Otherwise you’re headed down a real slippery slope. What would Lincoln have done if he had drones during his suspension of Habeas Corpus?
Take it up with the SCOTUS. Past SCOTUS rulings indicate that citizenship by birth cannot be forfeited for any reason; it must be renounced.
As I recall, Gadahn was born a US citizen. So his citizenship cannot be stripped by any process other than him voluntarily renouncing same.
AW1Ed, I am very sorry for Mr. Weinstein and his family. For Mr. Weinstein ONLY that is. I give lots of credence to the thought Proud Infidel posited above that Mr. Weinstein may have been dead long before this and used for propaganda now. But I do not know. Now AW1Ed, as for Adam Gadahn, fuck him and I’m glad he got fucked, at last. When he knowingly left his country to take up arms and fight against us and our allies for 11 years, he forfeited his rights, to trial by jury, conviction (if that happened) and sentencing, unless he had come back and was arrested. In such a case I still believe traitors who take up arms against this nation should automatically forfeit their citizenship and all rights it bestows. How many American did he kill or help kill? How many Muslims of a different flavor, Christians or just innocent, unarmed men, women and children did he kill? He chose to become a part of a terrorist group who’s beliefs in the Koran teaches them that the merciless treatment of enemies, captives and those who will not “profess Allah” to their liking is “good, proper and honorable to Allah. That is their reasoning for believing their Koran has higher value than the Geneva Convention. So I have NO sympathy for them or this ass hole Adam Gadahn. NONE WHATSOEVER! I personally hope he died a slow, miserable, agonizing death of two lost limbs and an infected gut wound. I’m not sorry, AT ALL, that my sympathy and mercy meter for AQ, the Taliban and ISIS slammed to the left and wrapped around the “0” peg long ago. They get and deserve, in my beliefs, all the death and misery we can hand out to them. So if you think this was Obama being judge, jury and executioner, please offer a solution. Should we encourage the current flood of ISIS supporters headed for the Mid East (probably catching only 10%) to please get a GPS ID tracker implanted so we can track the American “citizen terrorists” from the born… Read more »
Because we’re supposed to be a nation of laws, not a monarchy ruled by imperial decree. I have no sympathy for Gadahn, and believe the world is a better place without him; my sympathies are with Mr. Weinstein and family. That being said. if this “war” was being conducted in serious manner, there would have been very stealthy boots nearby, eyeballing the target, and most likely the outcome would have been much different. Instead we have no human intell, and rely on an eye in the sky, with it’s soda-straw field of view, for targeting. Because of this, Barry managed to take out two hostages, and a traitor. Not a good trade.
JMHO, YMMV
AW1Ed
AW1Ed, thank you and I am glad I did not offend you. My mileage is the same as yours on this. Yes it could have been done better, if, they had had any idea Weinstein was in the area. I admit I have not researched enough to know if that was the case. As for our president being an Emperor more than an elected leader, we are singing from the same sheet music. I agree we as a people and nation are different because we are a land of laws and not a monarchy. That, the “Emperorship Attitude”, I lay on Obama, his Administration and its history. But when do we as a nation of laws, look at our laws and say there are some acts, committed against this nation which will through properly legislated, forgo an individuals rights to due process? If there was ever a circumstance in our history which makes this a valid point to consider, it is this. People are leaving this nation they are protected by, to go to another nation with no such individual freedoms and rights for anyone. Then they support them by their chosen beliefs and actions in murder and mayhem against any and all with whom they disagree. I know this is a very fine legal line AW1Ed and a very, VERY slippery slope. Maybe that is why it has not been broached by the political machines. However, if, God forbid the day comes we have another 9/11 things will no doubt change. Another 9/11 yet more well organized, far worse in effect and far more deadly. America will then take a far harder and less sympathetic look at not only the Muslim world, but its sympathizers within our borders. It is my fervent hope and prayer that our intelligence community can continue to prevent another such attack on our soil. But my fears, being grounded in reality and simple statistics tell me otherwise. As many times in my life, too numerous to even remember, when I have been completely wrong, I do pray I am wrong about this. Thank you… Read more »
Sparks,
Respectfully, I think you’re trying to apply the UCMJ, which is pretty clear on matters of aiding the enemy in wartime, with civilian criminal law. Agree or disagree, but look up the SCOTUS Afroyim v. Rusk, and Rogers v. Bellei.
‘As a consequence of revised policies adopted in 1990 by the United States Department of State, it is now (in the words of one expert) “virtually impossible to lose American citizenship without formally and expressly renouncing it.”‘
Reading what is written above, you are both arguing a moot point – neither Mr. Weinstein nor the alleged dickweed were known to be in the area. There was no “JJ&E” question, there was no decision to kill an American citizen without due process. In practical terms, we got lucky with one and unlucky killing Mr. Weinstein.
David, I agree. This was not an “out to get Gadahn” mission. Gadahn was just a bonus on the plus side of the equation. Unfortunately for Mr. Weinstein, he was simply being held in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Concur, David, collateral damage or a happy coincidence, but note my comment about missing the human intelligence (HUMINT) missing from the targeting equation. One cannot win a war by remote control.
AW1Ed, I see your point and thank you for the SCOTUS case references.
I offered a solution, citizenship review, and make it public rather than secret kill lists. Citizenship revoked, easy call in this case, then have at it. It’s not about THIS individual, it is about everyone else that may come into this or future President’s cross-hairs.
Secret kill lists?! WHAT secret kill lists?? This dude left this country to go fight jihad. He announced his intentions. He declared himself an enemy of our country, fighting with a recognized enemy organization. And he got zapped for it. I don’t like Obama and don’t particularly trust him, but talking about him having secret kill lists is pushing it.
This government is as transparent as a cheap strip club window…
And you know this, how?
😉
No American citizen should be denied due process. Regardless of where he is or what he’s done. I highly doubt they didn’t know he was in the area.
There is such a thing as paying the owed as the consequences of your own actions. That’s a form of ‘due process’ that’s so bright and pure you have to squint to look at it.
“…paying the DUES owed…” Sorry.
We have judges and juries to make that call. Not a politician or the military.
And if we’d brought him back to stand trial, what would they have done with him?
The current administration would likely take at least three years to halfassedly prosecute him in front of some liberal “Let ’em loose Bruce” of a Judge.
That’s not up to me; it’s up to our system. My objection to this isn’t because the traitor is dead, I just don’t like to see any degradation of our rights as American citizens.
He forfeited his rights and U.S. Citizenship when he joined the Taliban goat molesters to take up arms against the USA and our way of life.
No, he didn’t. I would fully support any change in the laws that would reflect that if the determination was made after a trial but as it is right now, as an American citizen he is due and should get any right and consideration you or I would want\get if we were accused of a crime. Furthermore, it shouldn’t be the role of the military to carry out punishments against it’s own people ever. A drone strike just happened to take out one of the relatively few American’s fighting with them? Right.
Horsefeathers.
Not only did Gadahn abandon his U.S. citizenship when he became an enemy combatant, the incident also took place on foreign soil. If anyone should be offended, it should be the legitimate Afghan government for a violation of its own sovereign law. In which case, it’s the right of the Afghans to send a strongly-worded letter to the State Department, who themselves have the right to file it in the not-give-a-shit drawer.
We’re dealing with the kind of people who set fire to captured pilots in iron cages, and post the results on YouTube. They have also said that our rights are either to convert to Islam, become a slave, or die. By adopting such a moral framework, Gadahn gave up his protections under U.S. law. To suggest that he should have somehow been arrested and brought before U.S. justice is both unworkable and a double standard.
Gadahn was apparently killed in Pakistan at a location on the border with Afghanistan. Sorry for the error. The same idea applies: the Pakistanis have a potential claim to legal jurisdiction.
Once he takes up arms against America as far as I’m concerned he no longer is a citizen nor entitled to due process.
Agree 100%.
sure he is… due process consisting of lock, load, good stock weld, steady breathing, correct sight picture, good trigger squeeze, etc.
RIP, Mr. Weinstein.
As for you, Adam? RIP, but for you, that means Roast In Pigfat.
Finally, while I agree with almost nothing this administration has done over the last 6+ years, the president was right on letting this one out, if only to provide closure to the families of the hostages.
Fuck him.
Condolences to the Weinstein family.
Any American hostages those slime hold are better off dead, even if they were hit by a drone strike. They are only being held for their PR value, as in ‘look what we have and we’re going to kill it in horrific ways’, the way they did with the Jordanian pilot.
ISIS has revived its video broadcasts of executions (another word for serial murder) of people whom they see as targets. They’re also rumored to have replaced al-Baghdadi with his second in command, but the Pentagon is saying ‘no’ to that report.
http://www.newsmax.com/TheWire/isis-replace-leader-physics/2015/04/23/id/640280/
Hoping that Gadhan is “enjoying” paradise as much as Zarkaoi (NSFW – courtsey of IowaHawk)
http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2006/06/paradise_blows.html
As long as the attack was against a legitimate military target this was not an “assassination” and Gadahn’s death was not an “execution.”
It’s called the Fortunes of War. If you choose to associate with people who are self-declared enemies of the US, as Gadahn has done (and more, Gadahn has at least arguably waged war against the United States which is the constitutional definition of treason) then what happens, happens.
If a Nazi-sympathizing American had decided to make his home in Berlin, and to hang out in a Wermacht command and control facility, would we need a judicial writ in order to bomb the shit out of it? Um, no because the C&C facility itself is a legitimate military target, regardless of who’s in it.
So if this was an attack against a known or suspected enemy military facility, then the attack was “legal” regardless of who was there. Gadahn, a hostage, mother Theresa, it doesn’t matter: If the target is legitimate the attack is legal.
The death of Gadahn has inspired my musical creativity again:
RAINY DAY JIHAD #12 & 35 (AKA Gadahn’s Lament):
Well they’ll drone you when your sittin’ in a cave
They’ll drone you when you’re tryin’ not to shave
They’ll drone you when your driving in your jeep
They’ll drone you when you’re matin’ with a sheep
I would not feel so all alone
EVERYBODY must get droned!
They’ll drone you when you’re kneelin’ down to pray
They’ll drone when your murderin’ a gay
They’ll drone you when you’re sharpening your knife
They’ll drone you when you’re beatin’ on your wife
I would not feel so all alone
EVERYBODY must get droned!
Add your own verses… 😉
Not bad!
Martinjmpr, I could not add better! Bob Dylan would be proud…if he had any of his brain cells left and weren’t a dyed in the wool, stoned out, liberal. But, I’m proud of your rendition!
They’ll drone you if you dare to go outside,
They’ll drone you while you’re cowering inside,
They’ll drone your rotten jihad lovin’ brain,
They’ll even drone you in the pourin’ rain,
You should not feel so all alone,
Cuz all the Jihadis will get droned!
“Don’t drone me bro.”
?
Beautiful. Simply beautiful.
I Got Droned and I missed it….;)
This is not an exercise in judge, jury and executioner, this is a combat strike against a viable Anti American enemy target. That the enemy also happens to be a citizen is irrelevant in the context of his participation as an an enemy combatant.
He didn’t lose his citizenship when he entered into war against the US, he just made himself a viable target along with every other jihadi whether American, Saudi, Iraqi, Afghani, etc….
One of the consequences of allying with our enemies is placing oneself into the direct line of fire.
This wasn’t a case of a guy visiting Starbucks and being killed without due process on an assumption. It was the destruction of an enemy in a hostile territory.
Tough shit for this rat bastard, one tends to reap what one tends to sow. The seeds of his destruction were sown some time ago, harvest just took a little longer for him.
I hope Gadahn saw it coming, and I hope it hurt like hell.
I hope he spends eternity in hell handcuffed to Helen Thomas and my ex-wife!! 😈 😈
Gadahn should have checked TripAdvisor.com. They would have warned him that terrorist camps in that region were dangerous.
He could also have checked weather.com, that would have told him there was a 100% chance of drone showers and an expected high temperature of 1500 degrees farenheit.
Well, this explains why Gadahn went over to the Taliban and al Qaeda;
He was so in love with the horned beasts, it was like a pedophile who travels to Thailand.
So I guess the old joke of “I would crawl through a hundred miles of broken glass just to hear her fart over a field phone” applies also to man and goat love.
Anyway, good riddance. May his 72 virgins all turn out to be Hillary lookalikes.
The President does make the call after it goes through several vetting matrix’s, several agencies, many layers and a thorough review by a little known DoD office. After the “targetting office” scrubs it, time to meet with senior Congress members over whiskey and boubon to convince them “how and why this person must die”. With the approval of such Congress members, a nod and tip of the hat it is given to POTUS to execute the operation.
There is a very strict protocol for such operations.
The notion that USPERS in such a situation should be afforded due process is ridiculous and passes no test of basic law, ROE, Rules of Armed Conflict and or common sence.
Once you become the “enemy of the United States of America” you are subject to the perils of your stated position.
God Bless the innocent who died and God damn the traitors!
PS: a good friend of mine was a SEL at the above mentioned targetting office. He spent most of his time on the hill. He said one of his best lines was, “Sir, some people just need to die”. For the nay sayers … Stuff that in your pipe and smoke it! I commend the E-9 who had the whiskey and or bourbon with the Congress members and said, “Gadahn needs to die”.
So by these rules, any American citizen can be snuffed by a star chamber of unaccountable bureaucrats, and you’re good with that. And Barry gets to OK the execution.
No thank you.
No, that is Not what I said. Nor would I approve of just any USPERS being snuffed out.
However, when you are committed ENEMY of the USA, things change a wee bit.
I am sure you are familiar with the federal oath that all service members, federal employees, elected officials and appointed executives take (in varying degrees).
… Against all enemies foreign and domestic … It is NOT referring to citizenship and whether one is a USPERS or not.
Enemies such as this goon “need to die”.
But what do I know?
PS: It is not an execution. It is called neutralizing, eliminating and mitigating a threat. Or simply stated killing the enemy.
Master Chief, I take your point, but I disagree. He took no such oath and was an American citizen, protected under the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The point is moot in this case, as he is now sucking dandylions from the root end, and happily so, but the precedent set by this is frightening. I ask you, who is next, who then is deemed “needs to die” by this or other administrations?
Think on that.
The difference here is whether or not they become the ENEMY.
Once a USPERS becomes the ENEMY, it is game on.
I am not talking about whanna be aspirational ISIL fighters from MINN either, they need to be arrested for being stupid!
But the those classified as ENEMY … I don’t care.
With respect to the list, I say vet the list and start checking them off!
So beer up for disagreements!
Beer up disagreements happily accepted, with the stipulations of the presence of scantily clad ladies and stogies.
Now I can do that!