Obama Puts American Cleric on CIA Kill List

Anwar al-Awlaki may be first US citizen targeted for death

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 7, 2010 7:07 AM CDT | Updated Apr 7, 2010 7:55 AM CDT

(Newser) – In what may be an unprecedented move, Barack Obama has authorized the CIA to assassinate an American citizen. The target: Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric who was born in New Mexico, but now operates out of Yemen. Counterterror officials say he’s a member of al-Qaeda, and has been linked to numerous terrorist plots, including the attempted Christmas Day bombing and Fort Hood shooting.

Because Awlaki is an American citizen, the CIA had to get special permission from the White House to put him on their kill list. A former Bush official tells the New York Times that he’s not sure it’s ever happened before, and didn’t, to his knowledge, happen under Bush. But Awlaki is seen as a major threat—he’s moved from simply encouraging attacks to actively planning them, according to one intelligence official. " He knows he won’t be met with handshakes and flowers. None of this should surprise anyone."

[Images (1)]

[Quotes (1)]

This Oct. 2008 file photo provided by Muhammad ud-Deen shows Imam Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen. (AP Photo/Muhammad ud-Deen, File)

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Awlaki knows what he’s done, and he knows he won’t be met with handshakes and flowers. None of this should
surprise anyone. - An anonymous American official

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 71 comments

passinthru

Apr 7, 2010 8:40 PM CDT

but i thought Obama didnt go after fellow Muslims??? stupid truthers....

DontLikeYou___

Apr 7, 2010 4:30 PM CDT

Wow. Newser has put an obtrusive bar along the bottom of my browser which I will never, ever use. Thanks?

LibertyAtStake

Apr 7, 2010 3:34 PM CDT

And foreign comabtants like KSM and the Fruit-of-Kaboom bomber get Miranda rights? So, WTF is the policy?

I'm OK with vaporizing this traitor. (Would rather capture him) The problem is this: should have convicted the traitor in absentia for treason first. I think even a clown like Holder could have pulled that off.

http://libertyatstake.blogspot.../
[For a light hearted take on our present peril]

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CIA • counterterrorism • assassination • Yemen • al-Qaeda • targeted killing • Anwar al-Awlaki

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Obama Puts American Cleric on CIA Kill List