By William Tucker
By now you’ve probably heard that the White House has approved the targeting of Anwar al-Aulaqi by both the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command and the CIA. Al-Aulaqi is a U.S. citizen with ties to two of the 9/11 highjackers, the Ft. Hood shooter Nidal Hassan, and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the man who attempted to bomb a plane this last Christmas. Some Americans are concerned that the President has allowed the targeting of a U.S. citizen by the military and the CIA without due process. While this is a legitimate concern that has been written about at length in the media it does not address why this information was made public to begin with.
When planning an intelligence operation it is usually unwise to broadcast your intentions unless the broadcast is part of the mission. With the targeting of al-Aulaqi this reasoning is unclear, but it has resulted in a response from al-Aulaqi’s tribe in Yemen. It is possible that the purpose behind making the U.S. intentions public is to force al-Aulaqi to respond, thus allowing intelligence a chance at narrowing down his location. Al-Aulaqi is a public figure that is known to actively preach jihad to the younger Muslim generation and with him in hiding al-Qaeda’s recruiting efforts could be hurt. It is also possible that U.S. intelligence is attempting to drive a wedge between al-Aulaqi and his tribe by threatening this targeting action. Al-Aulaqi is also not an experienced militant which means that without someone in Yemen providing him shelter he could easily make a mistake leading to his demise.
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