Many Terror Suspects Share Link to Awlaki

New al-Qaeda video features US-born cleric

(AP) - American-Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is believed to have inspired the Fort Hood shooter and would-be underwear bomber, is advocating the killing of American civilians in an al-Qaeda video released today. "The American people, in general, are taking part in this and they elected this administration and they are financing the war," he said. The US-born al-Awlaki is on the CIA's assassination list, despite his US citizenship; the White House responded that it is actively hunting "murderous thugs" like al-Awlaki. More»

'New York Times' dives into president's counterterrorism approach

(NEWSER) - The New York Times is running what is undoubtedly today's biggest talker—in terms of both length and heft. The paper interviewed three dozen current and past Obama advisers in an attempt to define the president's counterterrorism approach—a topic it describes using words such as baffling, confounding, paradoxical, and inscrutable. Among the most notable talking points:

• Some 100 national security officials meet via video teleconference near weekly as part of a Pentagon-led "secret nominations process" (described as "an invention of the Obama administration") in which they review potential additions to the "kill list" of suspected terrorists.
• Nominations are communicated to Obama, who himself approves every single name added to the "kill list," after reviewing potential targets' bios. He OKs "lethal action without hand-wringing."

Threat 'may be at its most heightened state' since 9/11: Napolitano

(NEWSER) - Osama bin Laden’s reign as the top terror threat to the US is over: According to the head of the National Counterterrorism Center, he’s been overtaken by Anwar al-Awlaki . “I actually consider al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula with al-Awlaki as a leader within that organization probably the most significant risk to the US homeland,” Michael Leiter said while testifying before the House Homeland Security Committee yesterday. More»

Case involves US citizen as CIA target

(NEWSER) - The Obama administration has for the fourth time summoned the "state secrets" argument in asking that a lawsuit be dismissed, reports the Washington Post . White House lawyers told a federal judge today that a suit on behalf of Anwar al-Awlaki —a US citizen who's on the CIA's capture-or-kill list because of his ties to al-Qaeda—would jeopardize national security. More»

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

(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. More»