From beyond our shores and without setting foot on our soil, the jihadists have invaded our country and taken the life of one of our citizens. Norris is still alive, but the woman as she was known is gone. She has lost her life in the legal sense: new birth certificate, school records, life story. For anyone who knew her, it is as though she is dead. But it is not just one life the jihadists have taken. To the former Molly Norris, it is as though all the people she has known are also now dead. They have been torn from her life because she has been torn from theirs.

A random attack—an exploding SUV in Times Square or a suicide bomb on an airplane—would spur us to retaliation. Be this is worse. Al-Awlaki targeted Norris in particular because she exercised her right to free speech in America in a way that displeased him and those who share his political religion on the other side of the world. The result: American blasphemer successfully neutralized. This is cause for national alarm.

President Obama has been quite vocal about standing up for the First Amendment rights of the Muslims who want to build a mosque near Ground Zero. But as that is an issue that involves local government, popular opinion, and private enterprise, it is actually none of his business. By contrast, as this involves foreign threats against an American citizen in her own country, the matter is central to his business. President Obama should call this what it is: an act of war. He should make full use of his armies and agencies to protect this woman’s life and liberty, and should defend her as he would defend our borders. But he has been completely silent.