Coordinating the attack on Awlaki

Washington Post:
Traveling from secret bases on opposite sides of Yemen, armed drones from the CIA and the military’s Joint Special Operations Command converged above Anwar al-Aulaqi’s positionin northern Yemen early Friday and unleashed a flurry of missiles.
US officials said the CIA was in control of all the aircraft, as well as the decisions to fire, and that the operation was so seamless that even hours later, it remained unclear whether a drone supplied by the CIA or the military fired the missile that ended the al-Qaeda leader’s life.
 Aulaqi’s death represents the latest, and perhaps most literal, illustration to date of the convergence between the CIA and the nation’s elite military units in the counterterrorism fight.
...
 At the same time, the administration has sought to put new pressure on al-Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and Somalia by surrounding those countries with aconstellation of drone bases. These include a new CIA facility in the Arabian peninsula that played a key role in Friday’s operation. U.S. drones also fly from military installations in Djibouti, Ethi­o­pia and the Seychelles.
...
 The attack on Aulaqi blended capabilities from both sides and was carried out under CIA authority that allowed for greater latitude in conducting lethal operations outside conventional war zones. Themilitary aircraft came across the Gulf of Aden from Djibouti, which has been the primary base for JSOC drones patrolling Yemen for much of the past year.
 U.S. officials said that CIA drones involved in the strike took off from an agency base in the Arabian peninsula so new that it had become operational only in recent weeks.
...
My speculation is the CIA flights probably came from Oman which is just to the east of Yemen.   There are probably legal reasons why the CIA took responsibility for the operation.  I think the authorization of the use of force after 9-11 is broad enough to cover taking out al Qaeda operatives regardless of national origin.  There is hand wringing on the part of some who think we should be engaged in lawfare instead of warfare.

BTW, don't be confused by the Post's strange spelling of Awlaki.
 
 
 

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