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View Full Version : U.S.-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki killed: Yemeni officials



diverdog
9/30/2011, 04:49 AM
This is certainly some good news....if true.


CNN) -- American-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, the public face of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has been killed in Yemen, the nation's Defense Ministry said Friday.The U.S. regards al-Awlaki, who was believed to be hiding in Yemen, as the biggest threat to its homeland security. Western intelligence officials believe al-Awlaki is a senior leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), one of the most active al Qaeda affiliates.
Yemen's Defense Ministry did not release any details, saying only that al-Awaki had been killed.
A U.S. State Department official and a White House official told CNN they were aware of the reports but could not confirm al-Awlaki had been killed. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record to the media.
Born in New Mexico, al-Awlaki preached at a mosque in Virginia before leaving the United States for the Middle East.
U.S. officials say al-Awlaki helped recruit Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, the Nigerian man charged with trying to blow up a transatlantic flight as it landed in Detroit on December 25, 2009.
The militant cleric is also said to have exchanged emails with accused Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hassan who killed a dozen fellow soldiers and a civilian in a rampage at the Texas base.
Early this year, a Yemeni court sentenced al-Awlaki in absentia to 10 years in prison for charges of inciting to kill foreigners.
Prosecutors charged al-Awlaki and two others with "forming an armed gang" to target foreign officers and law enforcement in November.
At a U.S. congressional hearing earlier this year, Michael Leiter, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said: "I actually consider al Qaeda in the Arab peninsula with al-Awlaki as a leader within that organization as probably the most significant threat to the U.S."
Al-Awlaki narrowly survived an American drone assault in May after he switched vehicles with fellow jihadis, a senior security official told CNN.
Attorneys for al-Awlaki's father, Dr. Nasser al-Awlaki, tried to persuade U.S. District Court Judge John Bates in Washington to issue an injunction last year preventing the government from the targeted killing of al-Awlaki in Yemen.
But Bates dismissed the case in December, ruling that Nasser al-Awlaki did not have standing to sue.
In a November hearing, lawyers for the U.S. government refused to confirm that the cleric was on a secret "kill list" or that such a list even exists.
Last year, YouTube removed a number of video clips featuring al-Awlaki that it found to be inciting violence.

sappstuf
9/30/2011, 06:45 AM
Who says the Obama administration doesn't believe in the death penalty for American citizens...

Good riddance and I'm glad he is room temperature.

AlboSooner
10/3/2011, 11:06 AM
this still doesn't prove that obama is not the antichrist, a muslim fanatic who is hell bent on turning america into an atheist caliphate.... just saying

TUSooner
10/3/2011, 12:04 PM
Somewhat related to the Ron Paul thread as well:

Suppose this American-born fuzzy chap, Awlaki whatsit, were holed up in suburban Atlanta, having shot some hostages and threatenng to shoot more and to set off an explosion that could wreck the neighborhood. And suppose some SWAT sharpshooter stopped it all in a big hurry by putting a hot chunk of lead through his fuzzy head, without any formal accusation or a trial or anything, of course. Would I be upset? No. This situation in Yemen is not significantly different IMHO, so I choose not to be too upset. [EDITED]

yermom
10/3/2011, 12:15 PM
so we just assassinate people now?

TUSooner
10/3/2011, 12:24 PM
so we just assassinate people now?
I'll just change not being upset at all to not being too upset.

I see the real problem here as one of language and law, sort-of. If we were in a declared war against X, and some American citizens were soldiers for X, and if US forces killed them in battle, we would say "that's war." But since after WW2 we no longer declare war in a constitutional sense, we have this hazy area where people who are the sworn and violent enemies of the USA claim exemption from the "rules" of war, even though they are at war against the USA in everything but name. I suppose it's another example of abandoning the Constitution, but it's abandoning the war-declaring part rather than the due-process-of-law part.

yermom
10/3/2011, 03:14 PM
well, this is like a guy in a building somewhere waiting for someone we don't like to walk by and shooting him.

as far as i can tell he wasn't taking up arms at the time.

how is this ideologically different than suicide bombing opposing politicians in Pakistan?

SoonerProphet
10/3/2011, 03:15 PM
http://lewrockwell.com/roberts/roberts328.html

TUSooner
10/3/2011, 03:26 PM
well, this is like a guy in a building somewhere waiting for someone we don't like to walk by and shooting him.

as far as i can tell he wasn't taking up arms at the time.

how is this ideologically different than suicide bombing opposing politicians in Pakistan?

This would not be the first time I have spoken without knowing all the facts. Alas. It seems my analogies may not apply.

KantoSooner
10/3/2011, 03:29 PM
He was a dual national US citizen. He was in a state of treason against the US and had confirmed that this was so through his actions (organizing bomb plots, organizing mass shootings of US citizens) and his words (any of probably 100+ internet postings). The Constitution lists death as the penalty for treason.

Really nothing to discuss here.

Adam al Ameriki, sleeping well tonight, are you?

yermom
10/3/2011, 03:30 PM
This would not be the first time I have spoken without knowing all the facts.

they found him with a drone and shot hellfire missles at him. i can't remember where i read that...