Anwar al-Awlaki killed

[davidbfpo]

Due to his prominence, notably in the USA, worthy of his own thread!

ICSR @ Kings College, London have just published a paper 'How Anwar al-Awlaki Became the Face of Western Jihad' and they claim:
This study provides the first forensic analysis of Anwar al-Awlaki’s work, which tracks his ideological path from a supposedly moderate preacher to an al-Qaeda recruiter.

Link:http://icsr.info/publications/newsletters/1315830207ICSRInsightHowAnwaralAwlakiBecametheFace ofWesternJihad.pdf and a YouTube item for a BBC News item:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2iAKprYx64

There is a fuller report, but their website may struggle to download:http://icsr.info/publications/papers/1315827595ICSRPaperAsAmericanAsApplePieHowAnwaralA wlakiBecametheFaceofWesternJihad.pdf

[Polarbear]

American born Islamist Anwar al-Awlaqi has been killed today in Yemen by a missile fired from am US drone. Seems as if al Qaeda suffered an other blow...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/world/middleeast/anwar-al-awlaki-is-killed-in-yemen.html?_r=1&emc=na


Mr. Awlaki’s name has been associated with many plots in the United States and elsewhere after individuals planning violence were drawn to his engaging lectures broadcast over the Internet.
(...)

But his death could also play into the tangled politics of Yemen, where beleaguered President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been resisting months of protests against his 30-year rule, arguing in part that he is a critical American ally in the war against Al Qaeda.

[jmm99]

Hello Helvetia :),

Thanks for starting this thread.

This event will have extensive news coverage - and has already generated some legal analysis at Lawfare. I'll post on the legal later this weekend in this thread, The Rules - Engaging HVTs & OBL (http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?p=126103#post126103).

I'll step out of the way for those who want to comment in this thread on the news coverage, etc.

Regards

Mike

[davidbfpo]

Following the first post a rapid assessment by ICSR and a short "taster":
Awlaki’s role in al-Qaeda and, more generally, within the global jihad movement was principally as an ideological cheerleader. He was not an operational commander in the way that Osama bin Laden or Atiyah Adbul-Rahman were, and will not therefore require direct replacement.

Few English speaking preachers have the same background and following that Awlaki enjoyed over the last decade, and it is therefore unlikely that a comparable replacement will emerge.

Link:http://icsr.info/publications/newsletters/1317417860ICSRInsightReportsontheDeathofAwlaki.pdf

[davidbfpo]

A slightly unexpected viewpoint from Majid Nawaz, of the Quilliam Foundation, who has worked publicly against extremism:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/01/drone-killing-anwar-al-awlaki

Sub-titled:
In the extra-judicial killing of a US citizen accused of inspiring terror attacks, America has abandoned its own values.

[Steve the Planner]

This is such a mixed bag of a story-- how an anti-AQ came to join them, extrajudicial killings of an American citizen, in a place where our blunt fingerprints are everywhere.

It will be interesting to watch the follow-on results, but not surprising if it follows the regular path (Big news about killing the guy, little result in ending the challenge).

[LawVol]

I must confess to having some issues with this although not from the same perspective as the lady in this article (http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/09/awlaki-illegal-or-legal/). She bases her opposition on issues of sovereignty and international law. However, I still believe Thucydides had it right long ago when it comes to state action on the international stage when state interest comes into play: the strong do what they will while the weak do what they must.

My issue with this is, of course, his status as an American citizen combined with the fact that he, apparently, never took up arms against the US. Assuming his speech, which I believe is all he did, rose to a level of criminal activity, doesn't his status as an American give him certain rights under the US Constitution? Article 5 due process rights immediately come to mind.

BTW, Maj Gen Charles Dunlap (ret) comes out in favor.

[davidbfpo]

A view from "down under" by Leah Farrell, which does not hold back:http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/yes-awlaki-execution-was-a-triumph-but-mainly-in-the-propaganda-wars/story-e6frg6ux-1226156295280

She opens with:
Killing them (she includes Samir Khan), authorities said, made us all safer, and decimated al-Qa'ida's operational capabilities, particularly its reach into the West. But the claims, made repeatedly in recent days, remain unsubstantiated....

(Midway) ..triumphalist sentiments, being reinforced by a chorus of media and pundits, reduce and redefine the notion of success to the removal of individuals or small groups of men.

(Ends with) Claiming from their deaths victory over a threat, which stemmed in large part from the lionisation of these two men, is an ominous sign of how precious little progress has been made in the war on terror.

[Steve the Planner]

Fahrenheit 451.

[davidbfpo]

Found on a website checked infrequently Jihadica.com, a compilation of the contrasting points of view:http://www.jihadica.com/english-speaking-jihadis-lose-principal-propagandists/