Was Anwar al-Awlaki still a U.S. citizen?

Posted By Joshua Keating Friday, September 30, 2011 - 9:53 AM Share

Short answer, yes.

I got into this question a bit with an explainer earlier this month about Chris Jeon, the UCLA student who traveled to Libya to fight with the anti-Qaddafi rebels.

It was once possible to lose one's U.S. citizenship by fighting in another country's army against the United States -- whether Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula counts as an army is another question -- but as the legal blog Opinion Juris explained on Twitter this morning, the Supreme Court has found that unconstitutional under the 14th ammendment. Ironically, the virulently anti-Semitic cleric's citizenship was protected by a case that involved a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen fighting to keep his U.S. citizenship after voting in an Israeli election.

In order to lose his citizenship, it must be shown that the U.S. citizen joined the foreign military or swore allegiance to another state "with the intention of relinquishing United States nationality" -- a very tough standard. There's no evidence that Awlaki ever formally renounced his U.S. citizenship.

A bill was introduced in the House last year by Rep. Charles Dent (R-Penn.) which would have stripped Awlaki of his citizenship on the basis that his calls for attacks against the United States constituted a voluntary relinquishment, but it never made it out of subcommittee. In any event, the Obama adminsitration never denied Awlaki's citizenship when it targeted him for assassination.

(5)

HIDE COMMENTS LOGIN OR REGISTER REPORT ABUSE

JUSTINPM

2:01 PM ET

September 30, 2011

Question regarding renunciation

"In order to lose his citizenship, it must be shown that the U.S. citizen joined the foreign military or swore allegiance to another state "with the intention of relinquishing United States nationality" -- a very tough standard. There's no evidence that Awlaki ever formally renounced his U.S. citizenship."

"With the American invasion of Iraq and continued U.S. aggression against Muslims, I could not reconcile between living in the U.S. and being a Muslim, and I eventually came to the conclusion that jihad against America is binding upon myself just as it is binding on every other Muslim,"

Wouldn't this constitute being a pretty formal renunciation?

JAMSB3

3:02 PM ET

September 30, 2011

Was Our Foreign Policy American?

You're dead, I'm right; again. The Obama administration could've indicted al-Awlaki in absentia but it couldn't be bothered. Now he's KIA and we're happy.

Oh, JustinPM, when Daniel Shays decided that he'd prefer to not pay taxes he didn't rescind his citizenship. He just said I prefer not to.

Al-Awlaki was an American citizen when he was assassinated. Citizenship is humanity refined. If American ideals met American realities would they recognize Congress?

MICHAEL J. ROBERTS

11:04 AM ET

October 2, 2011

Legal and Proper

The Third Geneva Convention of 1949 states that legal rights are extended to combatants only if they are under the command of a recognizable person responsible for his subordinates, are wearing or displaying a distinctive sign recognizable at a distance, are carrying arms openly, and conduct themselves according to international laws of war. Unless ALL of these conditions are met, the combatants may be considered francs-tireurs (in the original sense of "illegal combatant") whose punishment may include summary execution.

A very famous case of this was recorded on film and in a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph in Vietnam on February 1, 1968, when Nguyen Van Lem, a Viet Cong guerilla, was summarily executed by Nguy?n Ng?c Loan, the chief of the national police.

Neither Lem nor al-Awlaki met the Convention’s requirements, and under international law their executions were legal.

There is nothing that says we must “fight fair” with extranational forces whose actions – indeed, whose very existence – is largely unanticipated by the laws of war. On the moral question, I submit that until the Nobel committee begins to award prizes for veterinary medicine, mad dogs may be put down with impunity.

ELMER MOJARDIN

9:12 AM ET

October 25, 2011

That was a true blunder,

That was a true blunder, could have been avoided!
lpnprograms
medicalassistant
cnacertification programs

TCA

1:13 PM ET

October 28, 2011

business

Another government blunder. They need to stop messing around with "terrorism" and start investing in their country. This country needs more business and businesses need to place more focus in their marketing and sales.

Passport, FP’s flagship blog, brings you news and hidden angles on the biggest stories of the day, as well as insights and under-the-radar gems from around the world.