Anwar al-Awlaki Killed

We've been hunting Anwar al-Awlaki for quite some time and it appears that we finally got him. Details are unclear, but several news sources are reporting that he was killed in a drone strike. Naturally terrorist rights supporters are unhappy. I wrote about al-Awlaki and the ridiculous arguments of those claiming that he deserved "due process," a year ago in my post "Kill Anwar al-Awlaki."

Nostalgia for Colonialism from Marxists

No, not from former colonial powers, but people that fought to free themselves from British rule. And from retired "Marxist revolutionaries" no less.

“I am sorry about what happened,” said Ahmed Mighali Said, 77, who fought the British Army in the bloody four-year uprising known as the Aden Emergency, which ended with Britain’s withdrawal in 1967. “Under the British we had peace. The Yemeni fighters were ignorant. I hope the British come back.”

No chance of that. Here's another one,

“It was a great mistake,” said one former fighter, now a grizzled old man. “People didn’t know any better. It was an emotional response born out of Arab nationalism and Nasserite revolutionary feelings. If the British came back, we would sign a protocol saying we are sorry.”

I find these statements amazing. These veteran independence fighters are actually sorry they achieved independence, and would welcome British imperialism. That's a measure of what a hellish basket case of a country Yemen has become. I wonder if similar feelings exist in other former colonies. I can't recall ever hearing these types of comments from members of other national independence movements.

Putting Ourselves in a Straightjacket

The have been numerous reports lately concerning Al Qaeda activity in Yemen. The U.S. has stepped up aid to the Yemeni government, and has even been conducting military strikes in the country. We, and the British, just closed our embassy there because of "security threats." The overall situation in Yemen is not good, and apparently worsening daily. Given all that, we clearly have a critical need for intelligence relating to terrorist activities tied to that country.

The failed Christmas bombing left Omar Abdulmutalla in U.S. custody. This terrorist supposedly has ties to Al Qaeda in Yemen, and may even have trained there. We don't know how much he knows. It's possible that he knows very little, and was just a ignorant, fanatical tool. But it is also possible that he could have significant information. Even seemingly minor details might give us useful advantages in our expanding operations against Al Qaeda in Yemen. So what did we do?

We voluntarily chose to treat Abdulmutalla as a criminal, and provided him with completely undeserved rights, and access to legal representation, as if he were a U.S. citizen -- not a terrorist linked to an organization at war with the United States. Now, in order to gain information, we are reduced to trying to make a deal. Here's Obama advisor John Brennan on whether the terrorist will cooperate in return for "incentives,"

"He doesn't have to but he knows there are certain things that are on the table... if he wants to engage with us in a productive manner, there are ways he can do that."

The reason he doesn't have to make a deal, or tell us anything, as Brennan points out, is because the administration stupidly decided to treat him as if he were the same as a U.S. citizen. Maybe he'll make a deal and give us useful information. Or maybe he'll feed us a pack of lies. Or maybe he just doesn't know anything. But he could just choose to say nothing at all. And there's no reason he should have that option in the first place.

This is yet another example of how granting foreign terrorists the rights of a U.S. citizen puts a straightjacket on U.S. intelligence-gathering efforts. And for nothing. We penalize ourselves, degrade U.S. constitutional rights by extending them to those undeserving of them, and we gain nothing. If Abdulmutallah chooses not to talk, and sticks to that decision resolutely, there is nothing we can do. We just have to accept it. Assuming he has any useful information, could we force it out of him? Maybe, maybe not. But we've stupidly denied ourselves even the option to try.