Extremism emerges by Dr Al-Awlaki: ouch for ACLU & CCR?

[davidbfpo]

A few months ago now Anwar al-Awlaki was killed in the Yemen and a couple of days ago a speech by his father, Dr Nasser al-Awlaki was released in the UK, by a group on the edges of legality (separate issue) and then placed as a six minute clip on YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AIywZqHjIE

ICSR (London-based) has released on email a copy of the speech:http://icsr.info/news/transcript-of-...-awlaki-speech

The speech contains:

Anwar will [God willing] continue to be alive by spreading his teaching, sermons, and lectures. It is the precise thing that he lived and died for…It is the job of all of us to spread his knowledge and keep it alive

It would appear that Nasser is now endorsing his son’s message, stating:

My son’s blood did not, and will not, go in vain.

ICSR's analyst comments:

This is a significant development given that Nasser al-Awlaki previously maintained some distance from his son’s position and instead worked with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), to try and prevent the American government from targeting him as part of its controversial drone programme.

From this side of "the water" it seems a rather odd development, one that ACLU & CCR may have some issues with and just in time for the Congressional hearings on Islamist extremism.

This thread has some background on Anwar Al-Alwaki:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ight=al-Awlaki