to discuss anything about the process."
------------------------------------------
Atta boy!
On Oct 12, 8:39 am, Coach <coachl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I know you and I have had disagreements before plain ol, but on this
> one I am in total agreement. This is a war, and enemies who plan
> operations to harm on our citizens are deserving targets for
> assassination. Who's next?
>
> On Oct 11, 2:35 pm, plainolamerican <plainolameri...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > American traitors like al-Awlaki should be killed asap by any means
> > necessary
>
> > On Oct 11, 4:52 am, excalliber stevens
>
> > <excalibur.stevens.bis...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Secret panel can put Americans on "kill list'
> > > By Mark Hosenball
> > > WASHINGTON | Wed Oct 5, 2011 7:59pm EDT
> > > (Reuters) - American militants like Anwar al-Awlaki are placed on a
> > > kill or capture list by a secretive panel of senior government
> > > officials, which then informs the president of its decisions,
> > > according to officials.
> > > There is no public record of the operations or decisions of the panel,
> > > which is a subset of the White House's National Security Council,
> > > several current and former officials said. Neither is there any law
> > > establishing its existence or setting out the rules by which it is
> > > supposed to operate.
> > > The panel was behind the decision to add Awlaki, a U.S.-born militant
> > > preacher with alleged al Qaeda connections, to the target list. He was
> > > killed by a CIA drone strike in Yemen late last month.
> > > The role of the president in ordering or ratifying a decision to
> > > target a citizen is fuzzy. White House spokesman Tommy Vietor declined
> > > to discuss anything about the process.
> > > Current and former officials said that to the best of their knowledge,
> > > Awlaki, who the White House said was a key figure in al Qaeda in the
> > > Arabian Peninsula, al Qaeda's Yemen-based affiliate, had been the only
> > > American put on a government list targeting people for capture or
> > > death due to their alleged involvement with militants.
> > > The White House is portraying the killing of Awlaki as a demonstration
> > > of President Barack Obama's toughness toward militants who threaten
> > > the United States. But the process that led to Awlaki's killing has
> > > drawn fierce criticism from both the political left and right.
> > > In an ironic turn, Obama, who ran for president denouncing predecessor
> > > George W. Bush's expansive use of executive power in his "war on
> > > terrorism," is being attacked in some quarters for using similar
> > > tactics. They include secret legal justifications and undisclosed
> > > intelligence assessments.
> > > Liberals criticized the drone attack on an American citizen as extra-
> > > judicial murder.
> > > Conservatives criticized Obama for refusing to release a Justice
> > > Department legal opinion that reportedly justified killing Awlaki.
> > > They accuse Obama of hypocrisy, noting his administration insisted on
> > > publishing Bush-era administration legal memos justifying the use of
> > > interrogation techniques many equate with torture, but refused to make
> > > public its rationale for killing a citizen without due process.
> > > Some details about how the administration went about targeting Awlaki
> > > emerged on Tuesday when the top Democrat on the House Intelligence
> > > Committee, Representative Dutch Ruppersberger, was asked by reporters
> > > about the killing.
> > > The process involves "going through the National Security Council,
> > > then it eventually goes to the president, but the National Security
> > > Council does the investigation, they have lawyers, they review, they
> > > look at the situation, you have input from the military, and also, we
> > > make sure that we follow international law," Ruppersberger said.
> > > LAWYERS CONSULTED
> > > Other officials said the role of the president in the process was
> > > murkier than what Ruppersberger described.
> > > They said targeting recommendations are drawn up by a committee of mid-
> > > level National Security Council and agency officials. Their
> > > recommendations are then sent to the panel of NSC "principals,"
> > > meaning Cabinet secretaries and intelligence unit chiefs, for
> > > approval. The panel of principals could have different memberships
> > > when considering different operational issues, they said.
> > > The officials insisted on anonymity to discuss sensitive information.
> > > They confirmed that lawyers, including those in the Justice
> > > Department, were consulted before Awlaki's name was added to the
> > > target list.
> > > Two principal legal theories were advanced, an official said: first,
> > > that the actions were permitted by Congress when it authorized the use
> > > of military forces against militants in the wake of the attacks of
> > > September 11, 2001; and they are permitted under international law if
> > > a country is defending itself.
> > > Several officials said that when Awlaki became the first American put
> > > on the target list, Obama was not required personally to approve the
> > > targeting of a person. But one official said Obama would be notified
> > > of the principals' decision. If he objected, the decision would be
> > > nullified, the official said.
> > > A former official said one of the reasons for making senior officials
> > > principally responsible for nominating Americans for the target list
> > > was to "protect" the president.
> > > Officials confirmed that a second American, Samir Khan, was killed in
> > > the drone attack that killed Awlaki. Khan had served as editor of
> > > Inspire, a glossy English-language magazine used by AQAP as a
> > > propaganda and recruitment vehicle.
> > > But rather than being specifically targeted by drone operators, Khan
> > > was in the wrong place at the wrong time, officials said.
> > > Ruppersberger appeared to confirm that, saying Khan's death was
> > > "collateral," meaning he was not an intentional target of the drone
> > > strike.
> > > When the name of a foreign, rather than American, militant is added to
> > > targeting lists, the decision is made within the intelligence
> > > community and normally does not require approval by high-level NSC
> > > officials.
> > > 'FROM INSPIRATIONAL TO OPERATIONAL'
> > > Officials said Awlaki, whose fierce sermons were widely circulated on
> > > English-language militant websites, was targeted because Washington
> > > accumulated information his role in AQAP had gone "from inspirational
> > > to operational." That meant that instead of just propagandizing in
> > > favor of al Qaeda objectives, Awlaki allegedly began to participate
> > > directly in plots against American targets.
> > > "Let me underscore, Awlaki is no mere messenger but someone integrally
> > > involved in lethal terrorist activities," Daniel Benjamin, top
> > > counterterrorism official at the State Department, warned last spring.
> > > The Obama administration has not made public an accounting of the
> > > classified evidence that Awlaki was operationally involved in planning
> > > terrorist attacks.
> > > But officials acknowledged that some of the intelligence purporting to
> > > show Awlaki's hands-on role in plotting attacks was patchy.
> > > For instance, one plot in which authorities have said Awlaki was
> > > involved Nigerian-born Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, accused of trying to
> > > blow up a Detroit-bound U.S. airliner on Christmas Day 2009 with a
> > > bomb hidden in his underpants.
> > > There is no doubt Abdulmutallab was an admirer or follower of Awlaki,
> > > since he admitted that to U.S. investigators. When he appeared in a
> > > Detroit courtroom earlier this week for the start of his trial on bomb-
> > > plot charges, he proclaimed, "Anwar is alive."
> > > But at the time the White House was considering putting Awlaki on the
> > > U.S. target list, intelligence connecting Awlaki specifically to
> > > Abdulmutallab and his alleged bomb plot was partial. Officials said at
> > > the time the United States had voice intercepts involving a phone
> > > known to have been used by Awlaki and someone who they believed, but
> > > were not positive, was Abdulmutallab.
> > > Awlaki was also implicated in a case in which a British Airways
> > > employee was imprisoned for plotting to blow up a U.S.-bound plane. E-
> > > mails retrieved by authorities from the employee's computer showed
> > > what an investigator described as " operational contact" between
> > > Britain and Yemen.
> > > Authorities believe the contacts were mainly between the U.K.-based
> > > suspect and his brother. But there was a strong suspicion Awlaki was
> > > at the brother's side when the messages were dispatched. British media
> > > reported that in one message, the person on the Yemeni end supposedly
> > > said, "Our highest priority is the US ... With the people you have, is
> > > it possible to get a package or a person with a package on board a
> > > flight heading to the US?"
> > > U.S. officials contrast intelligence suggesting Awlaki's involvement
> > > in specific plots with the activities of Adam Gadahn, an American
> > > citizen who became a principal English-language propagandist for the
> > > core al Qaeda network formerly led by Osama bin Laden.
> > > While Gadahn appeared in angry videos calling for attacks on the
> > > United States, officials said he had not been specifically targeted
> > > for capture or killing by U.S. forces because he was regarded as a
> > > loudmouth not directly involved in plotting attacks.
>
> > > http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/05/us-cia-killlist-idUSTRE7947...
>
> > >www.realindianews.blogspot.com- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
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