Obama Approves Targeted Killing of Muslim Terrorist Cleric
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The terrorist Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is in hiding in Yemen, is understood to have moved from encouraging attacks on the United States to participating in them directly, The New York Times reports.
U.S. officials say the Obama administration has authorized the CIA to capture or kill a U.S.-born terrorist Muslim cleric alleged to be an al-Qaida operative.
The terrorist Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki was born in New Mexico of Yemeni descent. He was interviewed by the FBI after the September 11, 2001, attacks when he was accused of serving as “spiritual adviser” to two of the attackers at his mosque in Falls Church.
He was detained by Yemeni authorities in August 2006 and held for more than a year as part of a secret investigation
Anwar al-Awlaki was linked to last November’s attack on Fort Hood, Texas, and the failed Christmas day airline bomb plot, has been approved for capture or killing.
Awlaki, who is in hiding in Yemen, is understood to have moved from encouraging attacks on the United States to participating in them directly, The New York Times reports.
Officials quoted in U.S. news reports say Awlaki has been added to a target list after a review of his activities, with officials believing he shifted from encouraging attacks to taking on a role with al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.
Last month, in an audio message, Awlaki called on American Muslims to revolt against the U.S. government because of its actions against other Muslims around the world.
Awlaki has admitted to communicating with Major Nidal Hasan, who is accused of killing 13 people at a U.S. military base in the southwestern U.S. state of Texas last year.
He also says the Nigerian man accused of trying to bomb a U.S.-bound passenger jet last year was his student.
Yemen has intensified its campaign against al-Qaida militants after the group’s local branch claimed responsibility for the failed bombing of the plane in December.
Experts said that targeting him was extremely rare, if not unprecedented. A former senior legal official in the administration of George W. Bush told The New York Times he did not know of any American who was approved for targeted killing under the former president.
But the director of national intelligence, Dennis Blair, told a House of Representatives hearing in February that such a step was possible, without naming Awlaki as a possible target.
“We take direct actions against terrorists in the intelligence community,” he said. “If we think that direct action will involve killing an American, we get specific permission to do that.”
The possibility that Awlaki might be added to the target list was reported by The Los Angeles Times in January, and Reuters reported on Tuesday that he was approved for capture or killing.
“The danger Awlaki poses to this country is no longer confined to words,” said an American official, who was not named. “He’s gotten involved in plots.”
The official added: “The United States works, exactly as the American people expect, to overcome threats to their security, and this individual – through his own actions – has become one. Awlaki knows what he’s done, and he knows he won’t be met with handshakes and flowers. None of this should surprise anyone.”
The White House will not deny reports claiming that it authorized the killing of an American citizen who is purportedly involved in planning al Qaeda attacks and is said to be hiding out in Yemen.
Political analysts and leftist groups who attacked George W. Bush in the past are now silent or playing this as a necessary action by Obama.
Some are trying to explain that the level of connection of Awlaki to the 9/11 attack can justify the execution of an American citizen without due process, according to the 2001 Congressional authorization.
It would be an interesting intellectual exercise to imagine what the newspapers would be saying today against George W. Bush, if he had approved the targeted killing of an American citizen.
The Americano / Agencies
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