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Drone Targets Yemeni Cleric

tessaesque

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U.S. Tried but Failed to Kill Yemeni Cleric

The U.S. launched a drone strike in Yemen on Thursday aimed at killing Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born radical cleric suspected of orchestrating terrorist attacks in the U.S, but he evaded the missile, Yemeni and U.S. officials said.

The attack came days after a U.S. Navy SEALs team killed Osama bin Laden at a compound in Pakistan. Had Thursday's strike succeeded, the U.S. would have killed two of the most-wanted terrorists in a week.

So what do you think is the impetus for the renewed attacks in top AQ operatives?
 
IIRC haven't we tried to kill him before? Or at least announced that we were going to try and kill him?
 
IIRC haven't we tried to kill him before? Or at least announced that we were going to try and kill him?

I think he was on the list but I don't remember much attempt to get him. If I recall correctly, he had hands in a situation in Dallas with some guy who had become radicalized. He was trying to find somebody to help him with a plan suggested by Awlaki and accidentally connected with the FBI, who walked him into a trap.

I also think he had ties to the a**hole who shot up the prep center at Ft. Hood, about 150 miles from here.
 
I think he was on the list but I don't remember much attempt to get him. If I recall correctly, he had hands in a situation in Dallas with some guy who had become radicalized. He was trying to find somebody to help him with a plan suggested by Awlaki and accidentally connected with the FBI, who walked him into a trap.

I also think he had ties to the a**hole who shot up the prep center at Ft. Hood, about 150 miles from here.

He definitely had ties to Major Hasan, The Christmas Day underwear bomber, and also the Times Square bomber.
 
IIRC haven't we tried to kill him before? Or at least announced that we were going to try and kill him?

IIRC, some headlines were:

"Obama orders assassination of US citizen."
 
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Yeah, and there was all this fuss about the legality of targeting/killing an American citizen by the state.

Tricky...what language is necessary to qualify Awlaki's actions as treason, thereby justifying an attempt on his capture/life.
 
Considering the flak he caught when he authorized it, he chose a good time to take this shot.
 
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Tricky...what language is necessary to qualify Awlaki's actions as treason, thereby justifying an attempt on his capture/life.

I think if they had solid damning proof that he was helping the Times Square bomber or Christmas one then it qualifies the treason charges.
 
I think if they had solid damning proof that he was helping the Times Square bomber or Christmas one then it qualifies the treason charges.

I'm pretty sure they had e-mails and maybe even verbal acknowledgement of his involvement in mentoring the Ft. Hood shooter.
 
Al-Awlaki should be tried in-absentia for treason. Some judicial oversight is better than no judicial oversight when it comes to assassinating American citizens.
 
I guess because OBL wasn't a US citizen??

What difference does that make when they were both implicated in killing thousands of American citizens?
Al-Awlaki should be tried in-absentia for treason.
Why should he get a trial and OBL a hit squad?
 
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Tricky...what language is necessary to qualify Awlaki's actions as treason, thereby justifying an attempt on his capture/life.

Good point. At what point does an American citizen stop being a criminal, and start being an enemy of the state?
 
Al-Awlaki should be tried in-absentia for treason. Some judicial oversight is better than no judicial oversight when it comes to assassinating American citizens.

I'd be okay with that.
 
I think the thread title is very unfair to the drone.
 
I haven't thought much about exactly where the line is, but I think taliban johnny should have been summarily executed on the battlefield - intel be damned.

If it was my call...

Ladies and gentlemen (and I use the terms loosely), we have an American on the field and he is wearing the wrong uniform. And he's shooting in the wrong direction. What do we do about that? *bang*
 
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