William Russell Mead on Al-Awlaki's Demise

Brilliant observations (HT Instapundit) from a typically brilliant writer (bolds are mine):

… it does seem to me that Al-Awlaki and his buds are at war with the people of the United States and that in war, people not only die: it is sometimes your duty to kill them. That the Al-Qaeda groupies are levying war against the United States without benefit of a government does not make them less legitimate targets for missiles, bullets and any other instruments of execution we may have lying around: the irresponsibility, the contempt for all legal norms, the chaotic and anarchic nature of the danger they pose and the sheer wickedness of waging private war make them even more legitimate targets with even fewer rights than combatants fighting under legal governments that observe the laws of war.

Mr. Al-Awlaki chose to make himself what used to be called an outlaw; a person at war with society who is no longer protected by the laws he seeks to destroy. He was not a criminal who has broken some particular set of laws; he was an enemy seeking to destroy all the laws and the institutions that create them. His fiery sermons inspired numerous jihadists, like Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan, to attack Americans. He was personally involved with planning the attempted Christmas Day bombing in 2009 and he mentored several of the 9/11 bombers. That he was at war with the United States may not have been proved in a criminal court but is not really up for debate.

By waging private war against the United States, he placed himself in jeopardy, and our Chief Magistrate, obedient to the commitments he made when he took his oath of office, fulfilled his solemn duty by returning Mr. Al-Awlaki to his maker by the most effective means at hand.

Far from President Obama launching an unprecedented assault on the civil rights of all Americans, he was acting as presidents must — and do. …

… The President has created some of the confusion in our debate. Frequently during the campaign, sometimes even in office, he has spoken as if he is the head of a criminal investigation team. When it comes to actual decisions, however, he acts like a military leader at war. (Glen) Greenwald and (Ron) Paul appear to believe that he is a policeman and needs to start acting more like one; I believe he is a war leader and needs to start talking more like one.

President Obama could start “talking more like one” by resurrecting the quaint phrase “War on Terror” and ditch the ridiculous term “overseas contingency operation.” He could tell his military and law enforcement folks to refer to terrorist attacks and not “man-caused disasters.” He could also conduct that Afghanistan war's objective as “victory” instead of avoiding the term like it's a four-letter word.

Much of the blowback Obama is feeling from the left and the “empire”-obsessed Ron Paul is of his own making.