  Dennis Blair: U.S. Can Kill Suspected American Terrorists Abroad
Reported by Huffington Post on Thursday, 4 February 2010 (on February 4, 2010)
|
Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair offered confirmation on Wednesday that the U.S. intelligence community is authorized to assassinate Americans abroad who are considered direct terrorist threats to the United States. \"We take direct actions against terrorists in the intelligence community,\" Blair told lawmakers at a House Intelligence Committee hearing. \"If we think that direct action will involve killing an American, we get specific permission to do that.\" Blair, who was on Capitol Hill Wednesday to give an annual threat assessment, also confirmed al Qaeda\'s continued ambitions to carry out another attack on American soil. This latest information comes in the wake of a string of terrorist plots that have reportedly stemmed from radicalized Americans overseas. The Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al Awlaki, a former imam at a mosque in Falls Church, Va., was in contact with both Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the perpetrator of the failed Christmas airline bombing, as well as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the officer accused of killing 13 people at Ft. Hood, Tex. in November. Last month, the FBI charged American David Coleman Headley both as an accessory in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and as a plotter in attacks on a Danish newspaper that printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2005. Blair\'s latest disclosure follows last week\'s Washington Post report that recent military action in Yemen, which had been successful in killing many top al Qaeda officials, but not al Awlaki, was approved by President Obama. Al Awlaki is one of a handful of Americans that has been determined by the National Security Council and the Justice Department to be a U.S. intelligence target. Some House members raised concerns about these latest developments. Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), who criticized the intelligence community this week for misconduct surrounding the 2001 attack on a plane piloted by American missionaries in Peru, questioned the policy. \"The targeting of Americans -- it\'s a very sensitive issue, but again there\'s been more information in the public domain than what has been shared with this committee,\" Hoekstra said. \"There is no clarity...what is the legal framework?
Links: Full news story
|
|
|
|
|
| Recent related news |
| |
The New Republic
12 hours ago - US | No, it is not—as, frankly, I expected--downplaying the phenomenon. But, rather, it has put four... |
Huffington Post
2 days ago - Politics | PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania woman accused of trolling the Internet as \"Jihad Jane\" while she...Also reported by •CBS News •guardian.co.uk |
guardian.co.uk
2 days ago - World | US Muslim convert Colleen LaRose accused of joining plot to kill Swedish artist Lars Vilks
An...Also reported by •CBS News •CNN.com •Politics Daily |
A Pakistan News
2 days ago - Asia-Pacific | Pak-US strategic dialogue will be held on March 24 in Washington. Preparation for the dialogue has... |
Huffington Post
2 days ago - Politics | Crossposted with TomDispatch.com. When it comes to our nation’s military affairs, ignorance is not... |
| |
Huffington Post
2 days ago - Entertainment | One-liners (a.k.a. Monologue Jokes) are an important part of our lives. The average person laughs... |
Huffington Post
2 days ago - Politics | Not long ago, the most prominent supporters of the public option were touting it as essential for... |
IndiaTimes
2 days ago - Asia-Pacific | America's top intelligence official Dennis C Blair met P Chidambaram on Thursday, on a day suspected... |
Huffington Post
2 days ago - Politics | State Department Legal Adviser Harold Koh has promised to produce the Obama administration\'s legal... |
guardian.co.uk
6 days ago - World | Mother says Jamie Paulin-Ramirez had been in contact with fellow American 'Jihad Jane'
A second US... |
| |
|
|
|
Facebook
E-mail
Twitter
Mixx
StumbleUpon
FriendFeed
Tweet the News!
Select Region >
Top News RSS Feed | News for my Website | Archive | Advertise | Help | Enquiries | Bookmark this site | 
U.S. version
