Written By : William Teach

The good news tag is not meant to be it’s usual sarcasm

(CBS News) Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born radical Islamic preacher who rose to the highest level of al Qaeda’s franchise in Yemen, has been killed.

Al-Awlaki, born in New Mexico, has been linked to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) attempted bombing of a U.S. passenger jet over Detroit on Christmas day, 2009, and was thought to be a leader of the group.

A U.S. government official confirms to CBS News senior security correspondent David Martin that al-Awlaki was killed. Yemen’s Defense Ministry was first to tell CBS News of the strike, but given previous reports which turned out to be erroneous, the relatively rapid U.S. confirmation is crucial, and bolsters witness accounts that it was a U.S. drone strike that killed the al Qaeda figure.

The Associated Press reported that an unidentified source said the U.S. believes al-Awlaki was killed in a strike by U.S. jets and drones on his convoy.

That is excellent news, and, for a change, we do need to give Mr. Obama some credit for continuing to escalate the global war on Islamic terrorism, er, Operation Overseas Contingency, and going after terrorists in nations across the Eastern hemisphere. I think Obama enjoys seeing bombs dropped.

Of course, this brings out the unhinged liberals

• Guy from New Mexico Executed Without Trial Just sayin’
• Extra judicial killing of a United States Citizen.
• They finally did it If he was killed by the Yemini forces as this report says, those forces were probably either led or directed by the U.S. No trial, no evidence need be presented to execute an American because the Obama administration decreed that he was guilty.

And here’s Glenn Greenwald

The due-process-free assassination of U.S. citizens is now reality

After several unsuccessful efforts to assassinate its own citizen, the U.S. succeeded today (and it was the U.S.). It almost certainly was able to find and kill Awlaki with the help of its long-time close friend President Saleh, who took a little time off from murdering his own citizens to help the U.S. murder its. The U.S. thus transformed someone who was, at best, a marginal figure into a martyr, and again showed its true face to the world. The government and media search for The Next bin Laden has undoubtedly already commenced.

Interestingly, a stroll through the left-o-sphere finds virtually no mention of this news. Even Excitable Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs, who made his chops discussing Islamic terrorism, ignores the story. I guess the far left is trying to figure out how to spin this as an Obama and liberal win after so much wailing, hand wringing, and teeth gnashing over Obama’s kill order on al-Awlaki.

More: Oh, my, the loon-atic left is out in force

What we’ve witnessed with Awlaki’s death is the first official assassination based on a citizen practicing his First Amendment rights.

Got that? Preaching violence against US citizens, calling for Jihad, advocating the destruction of the US, and involvement with terrorist activities is now “practicing his 1st Amendment Rights.”

And more: Via The Jawa Report, the strike also got Samir Khan, another home grown Islamist wackjob (or, should that now be, wackedjob?)

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach. Please sign the drill now petition.

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