Tag Archives: War on Terror

President Obama’s Drone Kills North Carolina Man

Barack Obama

An interesting intersection.  I’m pretty hawkish on going after and getting bad guys.  However, I’m not sure if I would be cool with just sending in policeman to go ahead and shoot them.

On the other hand, it seems pretty reasonable that US citizens should be able to expect a trial.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that four American citizens –one of them a suspect in a North Carolina-based terrorist cell – have been killed in drone strikes since 2009 in Pakistan and Yemen. The disclosure to Congress comes on the eve of a major national security speech by President Barack Obama.

In conducting U.S. counterterrorism operations against al-Qaida and its associated forces, the government has targeted and killed one American citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki, and is aware of the killing by U.S. drones of three others, Attorney General Eric Holder said in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy.

Al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric, was killed in a drone strike in September 2011 in Yemen. Holder said three other Americans were killed by drones in counterterrorism operations since 2009 but were not targeted. The three are Samir Khan, who was killed in the same drone strike as al-Awlaki; al-Awlaki’s 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman, a native of Denver, who also was killed in Yemen two weeks later; and Jude Kenan Mohammed, who was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan.

Mohammed was born in the United States and dropped out of Fuquay-Varina High School in 2006. He left the U.S. two years later.

He was among eight men with Triangle ties indicted on charges they raised money, stockpiled weapons and trained in preparation for jihadist attacks against American military and foreign targets. Seven of them were arrested in Johnston County in July 2009. Mohammed, who was believed to be in Pakistan at the time, was never found.

All seven of Mohammed’s co-conspirators are serving prison time. Four were convicted and three, including alleged ringleader Daniel Patrick Boyd, pleaded guilty.

Again, a gut wrenching intersection.

Runnin’ With The Devil

Dick Cheney

I wonder if Obama ever thought that a policy he campaigned against would be supported by the man he vilified:

Former Vice President Dick Cheney became the highest profile Bush Administration official to come out in support of President Obama’s drone targeted killings policy when he dismissed concerns about “checks and balances” and explained on CBS This Morning that Obama’s “paid to make difficult, difficult decisions.”

Even Karl Rove agrees with Obama on this.  If nothing else, pure tribe warfare dictates that the left MUST go crazy about Obama’s drone strikes.

Meanwhile, In Other News

With all the news this weekend focusing on Irene, it’s important to note that Obama and his administration continue to operate in the back-ground.

For example, there are reports that the “War on Terror” is moving along swimmingly:

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) — Al Qaeda’s second-in-command, Atiya Abdul Rahman, has been killed in Pakistan, a U.S. official said Saturday.

The official would not discuss the circumstances behind his death, but did say Rahman is a key loss for al Qaeda.

“There’s no question this is a major blow to al Qaeda. Atiya was at the top of al Qaeda’s trusted core,” the official said. “He ran daily operations for the group since Shaykh Sa’id al-Masri was killed last year, and has been (Osama bin Laden successor Ayman al-Zawahiri’s) second-in-command since bin Laden’s death in May.”

Excellent news during a day filled with storm damage!

Further, on the science front, specifically geology, the Obama administration is equally busy:

Richmond, Aug 27 (Reuters) – Scientist studying the recent Virginia earthquake have identified a new geological structure that many feel explains the recent seismic activity in the region.  The region had known boundaries, referred to as tectonic zones.

Researchers began studying historical sources for past earthquakes in the region and were surprised to find indications of such activity from an unlikely source; Native American relics.  In fact, there are records dating back as far as the 1600’s that show significant activity in the region, known as Unega Gihli.

The Obama administration, eager to understand what Unega Gihli meant brought in linguistic experts to study the reference.  As it turns out, Unega Gihli is Cherokee for “Bush’s Fault”.

All is well in the world of Team Obama!