Obama Mulls Legality of ‘Taking Out’ US-Born Cleric
Can Obama ‘Take Out’ a Citizen Not Charged With Any Crimes?
By Jason Ditz | January 25, 2010
According to US intelligence officials, the Obama Administration has “missed” several opportunities to assassinate US-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki because lawyers are still unclear on the legality of killing him.
At issue is that Awlaki, a New Mexico-born Muslim cleric, is not charged with any crimes under US law and is only speculatively linked by the Obama Administration to terrorism through secret “intelligence reports.”
As a native-born citizen of the United States, assassinating him on the basis of secret evidence which is so shaky that officials haven’t felt comfortable issuing charges against him is a legal grey area, to say the least.
But despite this legal concern, officials had no problem in backing Yemeni air strikes which attempted to assassinate Awlaki just last month. US officials said Awlaki was ‘probably’ killed in those strikes, though it later turned out he wasn’t even present at the site of the attack.
8 Comments »
Leave a comment
Featured Video
Ukraine & Europe Can’t Out Wait Russia
or go to
Aletho News Archives – Video-Images
From the Archives
Ronald Reagan’s Torture
By Robert Parry | Consortium News | September 8, 2009
The 2004 CIA Inspector General’s report, released in August 2009, referenced as “background” to the Bush-era abuses the spy agency’s “intermittent involvement in the interrogation of individuals whose interests are opposed to those of the United States.” The report noted “a resurgence in interest” in teaching those techniques in the early 1980s “to foster foreign liaison relationships.”
The report said, “because of political sensitivities,” the CIA’s top brass in the 1980s “forbade Agency officers from using the word ‘interrogation” and substituted the phrase “human resources exploitation” [HRE] in training programs for allied intelligence agencies.
The euphemism aside, the reality of these interrogation techniques remained brutal, with the CIA Inspector General conducting a 1984 investigation of alleged “misconduct on the part of two Agency officers who were involved in interrogations and the death of one individual,” the report said (although the details were redacted in the version released to the public).
In 1984, the CIA also was hit with a scandal over what became known as an “assassination manual” prepared by agency personnel for the Nicaraguan Contras, a rebel group sponsored by the Reagan administration with the goal of ousting Nicaragua’s leftist Sandinista government.
Despite those two problems, the questionable training programs apparently continued for another two years. The 2004 IG report states that “in 1986, the Agency ended the HRE training program because of allegations of human rights abuses in Latin America.”
While the report’s references to this earlier era of torture are brief – and the abuses are little-remembered features of Ronald Reagan’s glorified presidency – there have been other glimpses into how Reagan unleashed this earlier “dark side” on the peasants, workers and students of Central America. … continue
Blog Roll
Recent Comments
loongtip on Showdown loongtip on New York Bans Israel-Linked Te… loongtip on Trump tells India to stop purc… eddieb on The Old Testament and the Geno… papasha408 on Trump’s war posturing against… Coronistan on This is How We Should Have Res… Coronistan on NO MANDATES, NO PROFITS: MODER… Lutz Barz on Russia Vows to Protect Its Oil… loongtip on Russia Vows to Protect Its Oil… loongtip on Hamas never agreed to lay down… eddieb on Conspiracy Denial eddieb on WEF Calls for ‘Cultural Revolu…
Aletho News- Germany eyes military space spending splurge to counter ‘threats’ from Russia, China: Report
- Power outages in Russian region after Ukrainian attack – governor
- Ukraine & Europe Can’t Out Wait Russia /Alexander Mercouris & Lt Col Daniel Davis
- IRGC drone completes lawful recon mission before contact lost
- Spain announces major social media crackdown
- Newly surfaced Epstein email ties him to Israel–UAE strategy targeting Qatar
- Focus on Panama’s ‘port case’ must not be misplaced
- ‘No nuclear program, no ballistic missiles, no support for resistance’: Israel sets red lines ahead of Iran–US talks
- Turkiye pulls out from defense pact with Saudi Arabia, Pakistan: Report
- Iran riots 2026: How the Erfan Soltani “execution” story went viral – and fell apart
- If Americans Knew
- The Truth About Gaza’s Dead – Part 1: How We Got Here
- They were forced to hand one son over to the Israeli army in return for another. Eight months later he was dead in prison
- Exclusive: New owner of CBS coordinated with former Israeli military chief to counter the country’s critics, according to leaked emails
- AIPAC Gears Up for Midterm Election Cycle With $95 Million War Chest
- Official US gov’t reports contradict Mike Waltz’s rants against UNRWA
- Israel lets just 5 patients out of 20,000 exit Gaza – Not a ceasefire Day 116
- Trump Again Bypasses U.S. Congress to Push $6 Billion in Arms Sales to Israel
- One side emerged from a tunnel; the other side killed 31. Both must “exercise restraint” – Not a ceasefire Day 115
- “Leadership Would Like Your Help”: Indian Billionaire Tapped Jeffrey Epstein Before Modi’s Visits to U.S. and Israel
- FBI memo concludes Trump ‘compromised’ by Israel, new Epstein Files show
- No Tricks Zone
- Climate Scientist Who Predicted End Of “Heavy Frost And Snow” Now Refuses Media Inquiries
- Polar Bear Numbers Rising And Health Improving In Areas With The Most Rapid Sea Ice Decline
- One Reason Only For Germany’s Heating Gas Crisis: Its Hardcore-Dumbass Energy Policy
- 130 Years Later: The CO2 Greenhouse Effect Is Still Only An Imaginary-World Thought Experiment
- New Study Affirms Rising CO2’s Greening Impact Across India – A Region With No Net Warming In 75 Years
- Germany’s Natural Gas Crisis Escalates … One Storage Site Near Empty …Government Silent
- Polar Colding…Antarctica Saw Its Coldest October In 44 Years!
- New Study: Sea Levels Rose 20 Times The Modern Rate During The Roman Warm Period
- As German Gas Storage Dips Dangerously Low…Shortage Hardly Avoidable
- New Study: Brazil’s Relative Sea Level Was 2+ Meters Higher And SSTs 3-4°C Warmer 6000 Years Ago
Aletho News 
When is cold-blooded premeditated attempted murder seen as legally plausible? Only one answer is correct: When the White House is behind it!
LikeLike
nothing new here–Obtuse americans NOT bothered by many of their many Presidents being assissinated. During Clinton/Bush regimes countless folks died because they were a threat to government cover-ups.
America is no better than Israel–both are bloodline killers :^/
LikeLike
So if you are a US citizen who has commited no crime, are not charged with any crime, and are only a suspect based on secret evidence, you stand to be “taken out” by your own government.
Imagine if his crime is tax evasion, or failure to pay his child support, or failure to pay his car insurance, and the secret evidence is a bounced check…
Imagine the new auto insurace commerials?
GEICO:
15 minutes can save you 15% on your car insurance, but one boucned check can cost you your ass!
LikeLike
I can save the crack White House legal eagles from
doing all that tedious research. Guys! listen up.
It would be cold blooded 1st degree murder. That clear
enough???
LikeLike
I used to wonder what it was like living in the Dark Ages or in Nazi Germany, or being a slave in ancient Rome. I don’t have to wonder anymore.
LikeLike
Unless they’re saying that Americans are the “Master Race”, then they’re just as well arguing whether assassinating a federal politician is legal for Americans, or just legal for everyone from every other country on the planet.
Oh, yeah… Looking at every other decision they make, I guess it is a Master Race thing.
LikeLike
ROFLOLOLOLOLOL America as a MASTER RACE …… ROFLOLOLOL, …… thats so funny I damn near collapsed from laughing so hard ….. these skinbags couldnt organise a f*ck in a 1000 whore brothel with a million bucks in hand, let alone organise a decent intel hit !!
most times they go to “get” someone they usually come away without hitting the target, but retardedly killing a large number of civilians …. Me Here, I just laugh !!!
LikeLike
If there’s no crime charged, what’s the reason to take him out then?
LikeLike