Obama's Relentless Al-Qaeda Pursuit

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright October 2, 2011
All Rights Reserved.                                         

           President Barack Obama stepped up his laser beam focus on al-Qaeda terrorists, taking down American-born Yemen-based terrorist 40-year-old Anwar al-Awlaki with a predator drone near his mountainous Yemen hideout.  One of al-Qaeda’s best propagandists, al-Awlaki was credited with recruiting 41-year-old U.S. Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan who, at al-Awlaki’s command, massacred 13 U.S. soldiers Nov. 5, 2009 in Fort Hood, Texas.  Killing al-Awlaki was a real blow to al-Qaeda on the Arabian Penninsula, a terrorist offshoot of Bin Laden’s outlaw organization.  Functioning like the Mafia, al-Qaeda harvests suicide bombers from an endless stream of human misery stemming from disenfranchised youth around the Middle East and South Asia.  Al-Awlaki knew how to recruit from abundant groups of desperados, looking for any way out their current economic and social misery.

            Not only did Barack get al-Awlaki in the Sept. 30 predator drone attack, he also reportedly killed Yemen’s 29-yar-old Saudi-born bomb-maker Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, responsible for numerous failed bombing attempts.  Al-Asiri’s finger print was found on the  on a bomb hidden the underwear of Nigerian-born Umar Farouk Abdulmutaallab, who tried to blow up an airliner Dec. 25, 2009.  Abdulmutallab failed to detonate the bomb correctly, sparing innumerable casualties.  Al-Awlaki tried repeatedly to target American civilians, including sending printer-cartridge camouflaged bombs in empty printer cartridges on flight bound for Chicago.  While U.S. counter-terrorism officials see al-Asri’s kill as more significant, you can’t underestimate the persuasive power of propagandists like al-Awlaki.  Converting an army psychiatrist into an al-Qaeda programmed assassin was quite a feat.

            Bomb-makers come and go but it’s hard to replace a good propagandist like al-Awlaki, whose persuasive power pits Muslims against the West to stage what Bin Laden thought would be an epic religious war returning Islam’s Golden Age.  Not one in al-Qaeda’s hierarchy understands the mission other than converting youth into human hand grenades.  Killing Western targets is supposed somehow lead to fall of the great democracies on the North American and European continents.  Al-Qaeda promotes its fantasies in religious schools around the Middle East and South Asia.  All preach the same hatred and misguided beliefs that suicide bombing is the path of worldwide jihad.  Obama promised that he intends to relentlessly pursue al-Qaeda terrorist whatever their nationality.  Some controversy was raised when Obama ordered U.S.-born Awlaki’s assassination.

            American Civil Liberties Union condemned targeted killings of U.S. citizens, specifically al-Awalki whose father filed suit against the U.S. government back in July.  “We continue to believe that the targeted killing program violates both U.S. and international law,” said ACLU deputy legal director Jameel Jaffer, citing the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  No American shall “be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law,” missing the right of any one to kill in self-defense.  U.S. authorities have the right to kill anyone who threatens the lives of its citizens.  ACLU attorney forget that killing is justified in self-defense.  In a post-Sept. 11 world the ACLU misses changes in the battlefield, where the enemy has taken to U.S. streets. Remote battlefields in the Middle East and South Asia are not longer the only ones in the war on terror.

            Republican presidential hopeful Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) unofficially ended his presidential bid, criticizing Obama for taking out al-Awlaki.  “No, I don’t think that’s a good way to deal with our problems,” said Paul, citing the fact that Awlaki was never charged with a crime or accused of killing anyone.  Paul insisted he agreed to go after perpetrators of Sept. 11, not low-level operatives.  Paul’s Constitutional arguments go out the window suggesting that al-Awlaki did not participate in Sept. 11.  As long as he’s a part of al-Qaeda, the terror group that planned and executed Sept. 11, he’s a legitimate target for the U.S. government.  No U.S. or foreign citizen can be afforded due process when they threaten the United States.  U.S. officials have every right to track down U.S. or foreign-born citizens for threatening the health, safety and welfare of ordinary American citizens.

            Getting propagandist al-Awlaki and bomb-maker al-Asri was a major coup in the war on terror.  Complaints by the ACLU aside, U.S. predator drones are the most successful terror-busting program in the U.S. arsenal.  It’s high time for the ACLU to get out of the Ivory Tower and get with the program in a post-Sept. 11.  U.S. officials have every right to order the targeted assassination of anyone threatening the U.S. or its allies.  Academic arguments about due process have nothing to due with the realities of a post-Sept. 11 world.  Since attacking the U.S. homeland, terror groups have boldly gone for the jugular, seeking new opportunities to attack the U.S.  Since Bin Laden’s death May 1, getting Awlaki and Asri leaves al-Qaeda’s new No. 1 60-year-old Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahiri in the crosshairs.  Only by Obama’s relentless pursuit of terrorists can the U.S. prevent another Sept. 11.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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