8 months after putting alleged "terrorist" on CIA kill list, gov't may now file criminal charges!

[Better Believe It]

Eight Months after Putting Anwar al-Awlaki on Kill List, DOJ Considers Charges
By: emptywheel
September 14, 2010

Back in January, Dana Priest first revealed that Anwar al-Awlaki was on a JSOC kill list and was being considered for a CIA kill list. Now, eight months later, DOJ is considering charging him.

"The Obama administration is considering filing the first criminal charges against radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in case the CIA fails to kill him and he’s is captured alive in Yemen.

Such charges, however, would come with political and intelligence-gathering risks. Counterterrorism officials regard al-Awlaki as a terrorist operative, not just a preacher, but they have revealed few specifics. Charging al-Awlaki with having direct involvement in terrorism could require the U.S. to reveal evidence gleaned from foreign wiretaps or confidential informants."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/washington/7200064.html

Now, it appears DOJ sources are throwing some baloney in with this news. For example, the claim that criminal charges might require the US to reveal evidence collected using wiretaps doesn’t sound all that awful, given that the contents of some of the wiretaps of al-Awlaki’s communications with Nidal Hasan have already been published. The government didn’t seem to have a problem leaking these intercepts earlier this year…

And the claim that they’re charging al-Awlaki just in case they happen to capture him alive rather than dead (opps!)? I’d suggest it probably has a lot more to do with the suit CCR and ACLU have taken against the government. I’m guessing that following shortly on formal charges, DOJ will tell the courts they can’t litigate the al-Awlaki suit because it pertains to an ongoing criminal investigation. Voila! No discovery in the lawsuit!!

"If the Justice Department decides to charge al-Awlaki, it’s likely he would not be indicted. Rather, charges are more likely to take the form of an FBI complaint. That’s because an indicted suspect automatically gets the right to an attorney if he is captured, making it harder for authorities to question him."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/washington/7200064.html

In other words, this doesn’t appear to be an effort to finally use due process before targeting an American citizen with assassination. Rather, it seems to be more about closing off legal options to that American citizen.

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/09/14/eight-months-after-putting-anwar-al-awlaki-on-kill-list-doj-considers-charges/

[hlthe2b]

1. I had hoped that this would change under Obama...

I don't think it paranoid to state that I realize the embedding that Cheney et al did in Federal agencies-- especially those tasked with national security-- might make doing so "life-threatening."

How blissful it would be to be unaware of these issues...:shrug: