Anwar al-Awlaki
 Anwar al-Awlaki    (Academic, imam) | |
|---|---|
 Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen in 2008. | |
| Born | Anwar bin Nasser bin Abdulla al-Aulaqi 1971-04-21 Las Cruces, New Mexico, U.S. |
| Died | 2011-09-30 (Age 40) al-Jawf Governorate, Yemen |
Cause of death | Hellfire missile |
| Citizenship | US and Yemen |
| Religion | Sunni |
| Parents | Nasser al-Awlaki (father) |
| Children | 5 |
| Victim of | assassination |
The first assassination victim in modern times for whose death the US government has openly admitted responsibility. | |
Anwar al-Awlaki was the first assassination victim in modern times for whose death the US government has openly admitted responsibility, although they prefer the euphemism "targetted killing".
FBI employment
Judicial Watch obtained more than 900 pages of new documents in the course of its federal lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act. They show that al-Awlaki was emailing and leaving voice messages with FBI Agent Wade Ammerman in 2003, a year after Ammerman had told customs agents at JFK airport to bypass an outstanding warrant for the cleric’s arrest. Reviewing all the material, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton stated "I have little doubt that President Obama assassinated a terrorist that was an asset of the U.S. government".[1]
Assassination
On 2011-09-30, Anwar al-Awlaki was killed by a hellfire missile from a US drone. Two other Americans also died in the attack, including al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son. The government stated they were not targeted.
Commercially-controlled media outlets used the phrase "taken out" to refer to his assassination.[2]
Justification
In response to a FOIA request by the ACLU, in June 2014, the US government released a memo dated July 16, 2010, by the then-Acting Assistant Attorney General, David Barron who wrote that "the U.S. citizen in question has gone overseas and become part of the forces of an enemy with which the United States is engaged in an armed conflict." The memo was redacted for reasons of "national security".[3]
