The Killing of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki

The Killing of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki

Fourteen years ago today, the United States government blew up a 16-year-old American boy with a remote controlled drone, and they have still not taken accountability for their actions to this very day.

This child’s name was Abdulrahman al-Awlaki. He was born in Denver, Colorado, and was a normal teenager by all accounts, one who liked hamburgers, rap music, and hanging out with his cousins. To the psychos controlling the drones from Florida, conditioned to act like they’re just playing a video game, this young man was nothing more than “collateral damage.”

I remember hearing about this when it first happened, not from some mainstream source but by word of mouth from a more civil rights-aware family member. I waited to hear some sort of explanation that made sense, since this young man, a U.S. citizen, wasn’t the target. I was more naive back then, seeing as how they never actually told us who the target was.

This kid was no threat, sure, after his father was killed just a couple of weeks earlier, perhaps in the future, he may have decided he wanted to take down the empire, just like millions of others who have lost loved ones to the endless violence the U.S. exports.

If these kids did decide they wanted revenge someday, they’d be completely justified in my view. Justified or not, none of these hypotheticals matter, though, unless we’re ready to live in a dystopic world that executes people for crimes they may commit in the far future. Because at the time of his murder, this 16-year-old kid was just that, a kid. Just like the thousands upon thousands that the U.S. has enabled Israel to mass murder in the last two years.

He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, according to Washington, an excuse I’m sure they use time and time again…

He was simply eating dinner with his cousins at a restaurant in Yemen on October 14, 2011, when a drone pilot was ordered to play judge, jury, and executioner for them.

The missile, and those controlling it, didn’t care that he was born in Colorado. Didn’t care that he had no criminal record, no “operational involvement” in any terror cells. They didn’t care that he was sixteen.

The government later mumbled that Abdulrahman wasn’t the target. Oh, well, that’s comforting. “Sorry, wrong kid.” No explanation, no accountability.

Think about that explanation for a moment and internalize it. Think of this situation if it had been you or your family, because with this precedent, that scenario became a lot closer to being a reality.