CIA Assasinates US Citizen

[PhillyKev 0]

I don't see how even those of you who want to "kill them all and sort it out later" regarding Al Queda can justify this. One of the people killed in the CIA attack in Yemen was a US Citizen. I guess if we can't find enough evidence to convict someone of a crime we can just use the CIA to kill them.

http://www.sltrib.com/11082002/nation_w/14666.htm

[skybytch 273]

Looked to me like he was hangin' with the wrong people at the wrong time.

[happythoughts 0]

Probably just an innocent bystander that was hanging around in Yemen with a few Al-Queda buddies. Bwaaaaahaaaa. Do you own any bridges? Got one for sale.

[PhillyKev 0]

A couple decades ago peaceful protestors were the target of the government (and gunned down by them). Guess it would have been ok to kill anyone that hung around them too?

Do you honestly think it's ok for the gov't to assasinate citizens because of who they associate with? How do you know the guy didn't think he was dealing with a rich Arab land owner and tryint to broker a legitimate business deal? Or maybe he was asking permission to marry the guys daughter? Who's to say? This is a very dangerous precedent and one that we've previously denounced and even condemned Israel the day after our attack for doing the same thing.

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The CIA's separate targeting process, which was used in Sunday's Predator strike, is quicker, more fluid and involves fewer decision-makers in its "trigger-pulling" chain of command than even the nimblest military operation, intelligence experts said.

What if that small group of "decision makers" decides to "pull the trigger" on the wrong person? Is it really worth the risk to pursue a tactic that most likely will not offer a single bit of protection to anyone?

[wildblue 7]

... I'm still wanting to know how many guys we had on the ground 'painting' the car. You only really need one I guess.

it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality

[Galen 0]

My Mother always said, you're known by the company you keep.

Respect the Dolphin

[PhreeZone 20]

Hellfires are laser guided missles that need no assistance from the ground as long as the plane still can maintain a lock on the target.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[cgross 1]

I just think you should know who your friends are. Wrong place wrong time. Oh well. 1 innocent life to save potentially hundreds..They made the right call.

[freeflir29 0]

Well...in the old days you just had a car accident or fell down some stairs. The fact that this was made public puts me at ease. It is an interesting turn of events though.

[happythoughts 0]

"Who's to say? " Yeah. Maybe he just stopped by to say "Can't we all just get along?" and then was holding hands and singing Kumbayah when he got whacked. Perhaps if he had only tapped his heels together and come home just one minute earlier, there would be peace in Kansas.

I always love the "maybe he was a really nice guy doing something really nice" speculation. The chances of that are probably similar to him having a winning lottery ticket in his pocket at the time.

Maybe he had new information that would exonerate Winona Ryder and that is why the CIA killed him.

[wildblue 7]

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Hellfires are laser guided missles that need no assistance from the ground as long as the plane still can maintain a lock on the target.

I realize. But I was going under the assumption that the Predator didn't have the required laser targeting system, and that someone on the ground was actually targeting the vehicle for it. It appears as though I may have been wrong in the assumption that the predator didn't have the laser targeting capabilities. However, I wouldn't be surprised if there was someone in that area guiding them in, and to make sure they hit the right car. It's not like this was the only car on the road.

it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality

[skybytch 273]

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Ahmed Hijazi and five other suspected al-Qaida operatives were killed by a 5-foot-long Hellfire missile shot from a remote controlled CIA Predator aircraft as they rode in a vehicle 100 miles east of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

This to me says that he was either suspected to be an al-Qaida operative or that he was traveling with several people who are suspected to be al-Qaida operatives.

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With him in the vehicle, said Yemeni and U.S. government officials, was a senior al-Qaida leader, Abu Ali al-Harithi, who is suspected of masterminding the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole.

This says quite clearly that US government officials felt that someone who has been declared by the US government to be a "bad person" was in the vehicle.

If I'm hanging out with a drug dealer when they get busted, I'm probably going to get busted along with them even if I knew nothing about the nature of their "business."

If he was innocent of any wrongdoing and was in the vehicle purely by chance, it's a real bummer and I feel bad for his family and friends. If he was an active operative for al-Qaida and a US citizen, then he's a traitor.

Unfortunately, we'll likely never know the truth.

[Muenkel 0]

Was it Alec Baldwin? Or perhaps Streisand? They did say they were going to move out of the country.

_________________________________________
Chris

[cgross 1]

LMFAO

[happythoughts 0]

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Was it Alec Baldwin? Or perhaps Streisand? They did say they were going to move out of the country.

Maybe it was Richard Gere and he was giving his popular "wayward brother" speech.

[Michele 1]

I dunno. I mean, if I was hanging around with OBL or one of his top operatives, I would prolly understand that there was a higher risk of my immediate demise, simply due to the fact of who I hung out with. Some of the folks who were in the car have been linked with the USS Cole attack, which, IIRC, killed 17 of our service men.

It seems to me that if this guy knew them well enough to be driving around a desert, it's rather likely that he also knew about their most wanted status. And I'll bet a jump ticket that he knew he was hanging with guys the US had declared war on. I'll further bet that this wasn't some "innocent" and ligitimate business dealing, or the brokering of a daughter in marriage. Now, I am not of that culture, but it would seem to me that asking for a daughter's hand in marriage would not actually be done in a car in a desert with non-relatives. Color me naive, I just don't think that's actually what was going on.

Add further to the fact that there has been some suspicious activity in Yemen, and the "heat was on", so to speak.

I dunno, Kev. I understand your position, but I really rather strongly disagree with it.

Ciels-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[Muenkel 0]

Michele is always diplomatic and kind.

_________________________________________
Chris

[Muenkel 0]

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Maybe it was Richard Gere and he was giving his popular "wayward brother" speech.

Was that the speech he attempted to give in Madison Square Garden to the firefighters and policemen? Lucky for him Hillary was there, it brought him one rung down on the fool ladder.

_________________________________________
Chris

[Zlew 0]

At this point I dont' really care if he was an angel converting the evil folks to better ways, or if he was a traitor who was helping those fuck nuts try to hurt other people. I don't like how sensitive we have become to collateral damage. It sucks that anyone other than the people who we want/need to have taken out has to get hurt or killed, but that is simply part of the game. There are not always the rescources or options to take care of the situation otherwise. It wasn't that long ago that it was totally ok for either side to bomb civilian cities (Berlin, London, hell we fire bombed Tokyo). We killed, and others lost (including our allies) MILLIONS of people in the 40's who had nothing to do with any war. But today if we bomb something and 2 people across the street get hurt/killed people scream and yell.

Even if we had military folks on the gorund that could have risked their lives by trying to pull this car over.....I like that we blew the damn thing up. In Afganistan many of the fighters over there were in a state of panic because they truly belived that we could target people specifically with our bombs. They get out of a car, it blow up. Their friends drive down the road, go to their hut.... what ever, next thing they know they are 100,000 pieces. I hope each one of the Al-Queda and Taliban who are out there FEAR that no matter where they are, they are never safe....not even alone in their car in the middle of BFE.

I'm sorry that anyone has to die. I wish the world was so different that none of this is necessary... but it is. You payz' yous money, youz takes youz chances.

Z

[JDBoston 0]

My reaction is pretty much "who cares." They identified someone in the car who really needed killing, they could reasonably assume that the guys with him weren't Mother Teresa or the Pope, and they acted. I doubt they had the luxury of positively ID'ing everyone else in the car and finding out their life histories. If it was on our soil, they could (and should) have done so, but let's face it, these guys unfortunately don't travel around so openly once they come to visit us.

The term "collateral damage" is often abused, and used to apply to some pretty atrocious things, but in this case I think it's perfectly acceptable, assuming of course that the Al Quaeda guy they're talking about really was in the car to begin with. It's too bad if those other guys were normal citizens, but I think the end justifies the means in this case.

And I don't think what happened at Kent State, if that's what you're referring to, is AT ALL analogous to a planned assassination of a guy who's a high-ranking member of a foreign organization that has violently and successfully attacked our citizens on numerous occasions. Just my $0.02. Always good to debate this stuff though.

Joe

[SkyDekker 1,465]

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If I'm hanging out with a drug dealer when they get busted, I'm probably going to get busted along with them even if I knew nothing about the nature of their "business."

I couldn't agree with you more, so I think next time they bust a drug dealer, they should just shoot him on the spot, including whomever may be with him/her.

It amazes me how many of you just do not care. If a newspaper even remotely reports anything wrong about a skydiving incident you are all over the journalist. But when they report it has possibily something to do with Al Qaida, then you guys have no problem believing any of it........

We are now at a stage were it seemingly is ok to kill people on a suspicion....to me that is very dangerous.

[Michele 1]

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Michele is always diplomatic and kind. [Smile] I guess she balances us sarcastic ones. [Smile]

I call BS! I am not diplomatic, nor am I kind. Just ask around! Gawd. Oh, the pain to be tarred with that particular brush!

Oh, wait, I think you were complimenting me.

O.K., thanks!

Ciels-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[cgross 1]

Zlew, I am right there with you. I don't want to get political or anything, but I think people and the media need to realize we are at war. And war comes with casualties. When did we start becoming so sypathetic. Yeah I feel bad for the guys family and all, but that is what happens when you hang out with the enemy, or even live near the enemy sometimes. How many people died in London in WWII. Shit happens, but again that is the price of war. We should realize that the US and a few other countries are the nice ones that use pretty accurate weapons. It sure beats the blanket bombing other countries still use due to lack of technology.

Our goal is not to kill innocent people, but sometimes it will happen.

[PhillyKev 0]

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If I'm hanging out with a drug dealer when they get busted, I'm probably going to get busted along with them even if I knew nothing about the nature of their "business."

Right, and then put on trial and given your rights as prescribed by the constitution.

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If he was innocent of any wrongdoing and was in the vehicle purely by chance, it's a real bummer and I feel bad for his family and friends. If he was an active operative for al-Qaida and a US citizen, then he's a traitor.

Unfortunately, we'll likely never know the truth.

Exactly, we never will know the truth. Yes, I think there's a 99.9999999% chance this guy was a "bad guy". But think about this a second, and I don't care what the circumstances are, this scares the crap out of me way more than any terrorists....THE CIA MURDERED A US CITIZEN

Clay and others, I've read you recently stating that you'd prefer the goverment to stay out of your life as much as possible. How much more invasive can you get than having some shmoe at the CIA decide to ram a hell fire down your throat. I just don't get how you people don't see the dark and dangerous path that we're embarking on.

[SkyDekker 1,465]

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I just don't get how you people don't see the dark and dangerous path that we're embarking on.

I couldn't agree with you more......