It has almost become axiomatic that terrorism does not stem from religious doctrine. Rather, the violence espoused by Muslim militants or preachers such as Anwar al-Awlaki remains rooted in political frustration.
Al-Awlaki's espousal of committing violent acts against the United States caught some ears, not surprisingly. That probably confounded many of us; but instead of considering them pathological animals lacking all humanity, we should try to find out what drives people to such destructive behavior. French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre described terrorism as a "terrible weapon, but the oppressed poor have no others."
We should try to understand and enlighten ourselves, in the spirit of Socrates, Jesus, Voltaire and Jefferson, in the spirit of critical thought, and in the spirit of social justice, to what caused al-Awlaki and others like him to resort to terrorism.
If you had to guess, how many young Americans do you think would take up arms against Mexico if those Aztecs invaded us? Millions, probably. Out of those millions, how many would resort to some dirty tactics, such as suicide bombing, to ensure the eviction of those unwanted Mexicans off of freedom-loving American soil? As Michael Scheuer, the former head of the CIA Bin Laden Issue Station, wrote, "it's American foreign policy that enrages Osama and al-Qaida, not American culture and society."
There is great irony that comes with calling these people terrorists. Sure, they're terrorists. But do you honestly think that the millions of victims of belligerent U.S. foreign policy - particularly in the Middle East - don't consider our troops to be terrorists?
Jesus, the greatest ethicist for many Americans, said in the Gospel of John, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." It is easy - so easy, in fact, that Jesus would perhaps have accused us of hypocrisy in the first degree - if we, chugging out editorials on our Macs while in the United States of America, condemn al-Awlaki for spreading a message of violence and hate.
What about our invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq? Do you honestly think that the widows and orphans of those besieged countries don't consider our leaders of being sponsors of state-terrorism? Before we argue that al-Awlaki's death was necessary, shouldn't we ask ourselves and our intellectuals: Has our government acted on any higher moral grounds than the terrorists?
Introspection will result in one interesting observation: We only call it "terrorism" when the weapon of choice is some ridiculous and pathetic tactic, e.g. suicide bombing. But when state actors are involved, using 21st-century military toys, e.g. Unmanned Air Drones, F-35 fighter jets, we call it "counter-terrorism" in brilliant Orwellian doublespeak.
Jurisprudentially speaking, in an age where many are proponents of removing the blindfold from Lady Justice so she can be partial against those "terrorist fools," it's obvious that the killing of al-Awlaki was a blatant violation of both U.S. and international law. Assassinating an individual instead of trying him in a court of law is indicative of a nation suffering a moral decline. Both the American Civil Liberties Union and Center for Constitutional Rights harshly condemned the extrajudicial killing of al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen.
Some have advanced the argument that since al-Awlaki was a traitor, his citizenship couldn't help him legally. But the imbecility of such a contention is exposed when one takes a look at the specific requirement of due process mentioned in Article III, Section 3 of our sacred Constitution: "No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court."
It is known that the Obama administration has a secret memo (issued by the Department of Justice) that apparently justifies targeting U.S. citizens accused of terrorism. Snippets of this memo have been revealed, citing absurd or vague legal standards. To prevent further embarrassment, it only makes sense that the administration has kept it classified.
Zulkar Khan is a microbiology and cell science sophomore at UF.
