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Ear to the Ground

Secret U.S. Panel May Put Americans on ‘Kill List’

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Posted on Oct 7, 2011
Magharebia (CC-BY)

Officials say that to the best of their knowledge, U.S.-born Anwar al-Awlaki was the only American put on the target list, according to Reuters.

Alleged al-Qaida leader Anwar al-Awlaki, killed last month in an American drone attack in Yemen, was placed on a kill and capture list managed by a secretive panel of senior U.S. government officials. What the president knows of the panel’s operations and his role in its decision-making process are being kept hidden.

Reports of the president’s part in the selection and pursuit of targets differ. Maryland Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said that the president ratifies all decisions. Others said Obama was not required to personally OK the targeting of al-Awlaki.

What would be the reason for keeping the president in the dark about these decisions? To “protect” him, an official said.

No public record of the panel’s decisions or operations are kept. Nor is there any explicit legal justification for the committee’s existence or rules for its actions. So much for the protection of whomever it deems worthy of death. —ARK

Reuters:

There is no public record of the operations or decisions of the panel, which is a subset of the White House’s National Security Council, several current and former officials said. Neither is there any law establishing its existence or setting out the rules by which it is supposed to operate.

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PatrickHenry's avatar

By PatrickHenry, October 15, 2011 at 7:14 am Link to this comment

More Americans on U.S. hit list.

http://www.activistpost.com/2011/10/us-deaths-in-drone-strike-due-to.html

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blogdog's avatar

By blogdog, October 8, 2011 at 11:21 am Link to this comment

RE: “Were all SEAL members, who pulled off the attack on the alleged hide-out of Osama bin Laden, killed, with the destruction of the helicopter?  To prevent the possibility of any of them leaking the truth of the event?  If yes, it signifies the pattern of GHWBushSr, as explained by former assassins.”

interesting analysis - as for Anwar al-Awlaki (referred to by some analysts as a CIA lackey), why take him out? Did he know too much and was perhapas on the verge of leaking it? If he really was a CIA asset, his location was probably known 24/7. Was this hit another Obomber ratings booster? After all the OBL Snuff Theatre gave him a ratings bump (albeit short-lived).

Again, the world has born witness to NATO’s wolf pack descending on and dismembering a whole nation. And, the world has just received this warning:

“And if only the power of NATO bombs and fleets grant legitimacy, then let all the rulers in the Third World beware for the same fate awaits you! To those who recognize this council as legitimate, beware! There will be transitional councils created everywhere and imposed upon you and one by one, you shall all fall!”

the world should take heed: there is no dealing with these gangsters, everyone is expendable

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drbhelthi's avatar

By drbhelthi, October 8, 2011 at 2:11 am Link to this comment

I know… WTF???  (He very well might be)  EmileZ

No, EmileZ and Miko.  Such logic simply does not “compute.”  It is antithetical.

Why does Reuters call it the “Secret Obama Panel Can Put Americans on ‘Kill List´ ”
And, why does the panel inform “Obama” of its decisions ?
“Obama´s NLRD Shredding of Democracy Exposed in Congressional Hearing”
“Obama’s Secret Law in the Patriot Act”
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=13180

On the other hand, maybe who are to be murdered next are petty decisions with which Obama does not care to be bothered.  That is, if expensive drones are to be used,  outside of the territorial USA.  Such illegal activities predict more Hollywood-type productions, with Obama cabinet officials shuttering in front of TV screens that display no picture.

Were all SEAL members, who pulled off the attack on the alleged hide-out of Osama bin Laden, killed, with the destruction of the helicopter?  To prevent the possibility of any of them leaking the truth of the event?  If yes, it signifies the pattern of GHWBushSr, as explained by former assassins.

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By Jerry, October 7, 2011 at 10:58 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

So if this panel put Obama’s name on the kill list, he wouldn’t know it?  That sounds dubious.  I don’t think any person in power would take that risk.

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prisnersdilema's avatar

By prisnersdilema, October 7, 2011 at 7:56 pm Link to this comment

This group has no legal authority to order the death of anyone. The fact of their
existence’s is proof that this country is no longer a free state.

These people and those behind them are steering this country incrementally toward
martial law.

Their justification is the same for everything, they had to destroy this country in order to
save it for themselves.

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PatrickHenry's avatar

By PatrickHenry, October 7, 2011 at 7:50 pm Link to this comment

Maybe the Americans should put the secret panel on its ‘kill list’.

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EmileZ's avatar

By EmileZ, October 7, 2011 at 5:33 pm Link to this comment

@ Miko

I know… WTF???

(He very well might be)

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By Miko, October 7, 2011 at 4:49 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

“keeping the president in the dark about these
decisions?”

Yeah right.  Every concerned citizen in the U.S. knew
that it was being planned.  If Obama was really
“protected” from knowing this, he’s got to be the most insulated person on the planet.

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By bigjohn756, October 7, 2011 at 4:03 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Duh! Of course they are keeping such obviously illegal activities secret.

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