Awlaki target of Yemen Hellfire attack
Image via WikipediaA missile strike from an American military drone in a remote region of Yemen on Thursday was aimed at killing Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical American-born cleric believed to be hiding in the country, American officials said Friday.Awalki has on at least two occasions attempted mass murder for Allah attacks against the US. The first was the underpants bomber who tried to blow up a plane headed for Detroit on Christmas 2009. He picked Detroit over Houston because the tickets were cheaper.
The attack does not appear to have killed Mr. Awlaki, the officials said, but may have killed operatives of Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen.
It was the first American strike in Yemen using a remotely piloted drone since 2002, when the C.I.A. struck a car carrying a group of suspected militants, including an American citizen, who were believed to have Qaeda ties. And the attack came just three days after American commandos invaded a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and killed Osama bin Laden, the founder of Al Qaeda.
The attack on Thursday was part of a clandestine Pentagon program to hunt members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the group believed responsible for a number of failed attempts to strike the United States, including the thwarted plot to blow up a transatlantic jet on Christmas Day 2009 as it was preparing to land in Detroit.
Although Mr. Awlaki is not thought to be one of the group’s senior leaders, he has been made a target by American military and intelligence operatives because he has recruited English-speaking Islamic militants to Yemen to carry out attacks overseas. His radical sermons, broadcast on the Internet, have a large global following.
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His next attempt was to get booby trapped printer cartridges on transport planes headed for the US. The planes moved through the airport in Dubai during a period when I was transiting through that airport on a round trip flight to Bangkok. The security was noticeably tighter on my return flight. The return flight also had substantially fewer passengers.
I have no problem with targeting Awlaki. He is clearly an enemy operative who aspires to the mass murder of Americans. Hopefully we will get him soon.
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