That article concerned 16 year old Abdulrahman aw-Awlaki, not his father, Anwar. Reportedly, Abdulrahman was killed by a drone strike that he was not the target of, the administration claimed he was collateral damage. Anwar was targeted and killed in a separate drone strike a couple weeks before. Both were US citizens. "Anonymous officials" later revealed the the target of strike that killed Abdulrahman was apparently Ibrahim Al-Banna, who was still alive as of 2014, three years after the drone strike.
Tens of thousands of strikes with no transparency and a callous disregard for collateral damage. This needs to be talked about more, as it's going to continue under Trump or Biden.
https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/projects/drone-war
And in my opinion, this talk about imminent threat is the same justification that the Trump administration pulled out after killing Soleimani. The executive branch always stretches the word until it has no meaning. Stay safe everybody