Hitchens on al-Awlaki

Anwar al-Awlaki

The great Christopher Hitchens has recently devoted two columns at Slate.com to the assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki.  I discussed this topic previously on this blog, but Hitchens brought up questions that were too thought-provoking to miss.

To summarize, I agree with Hitchens that the Obama administration's assassination of an American citizen raises a host of issues which need to be discussed by thinking individuals.  However, he brings up a salient point: what do we do instead?  That is to say, if we are not willing to kill homegrown terrorists, how else can we prevent the destruction of civilization?

To answer Mr. Hitchens' question, I want to begin by discussing the moral and practical issues with assassination.  The primary moral concession is that it is okay to kill another human being when your life is not in imminent danger.  Assassins usually claim to be moral through the claim that the safety of society was in danger.  This is the model all assassinations have followed, from stabbing Julius Caesar in the forum to shooting Osama bin Laden in his home.  But notice how closely these actions resemble bald-faced murder.  The line is razor thin.

Practically speaking, perhaps we should consider that assassinations often embolden the party of the victim.  That killing leaders - or having an immense military empire - might provoke anti-American sentiment abroad.  Thus, instead of making the world safer, such killings might cause the aptly-named blowback feared by the CIA.  Furthermore, several amendments to the U.S. Constitution have made killing citizens explicitly prohibited.

Having proven that we have no choice but to show mercy to citizen-terrorists, we return to Mr. Hitchens' question.  I think the best way to save civilization is the promotion of trade.  With the current state of the internet and trade, it becomes harder and harder not to come into contact with ideas that challenge one's opinions.  I'm optimistic enough to believe that, eventually, this will turn the tide against  both fascism and terrorism.  In the meantime, the safety of society can be protected via increased security measures.  However, we should not sacrifice our freedom for this security.  If we do, then the  civilization we meant to protect will already be lost.