[Ads-l] Signature strike explained

[Dan Goncharoff]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-glyn-williams/nside-the-murky-world-of-_b_3367780.html

An explanation of the difference between a "signature strike" and
"personality strike" will help explain the younger al-Awlaki's death. If we
accept the proposition that Holder was not lying when he claimed that the
younger al-Awlaki was "not specifically targeted," then he was not killed
in a so-called "personality strike" (i.e. a strike on known terrorists who
are "nominated" to be on a "kill list
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/world/obamas-leadership-in-war-on-al-qaeda.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&>"
approved by President Obama and his advisors in teleconferences). On the
contrary, he was killed in a "signature strike" which is a broader category
of strike. A signature strike is a drone strike on suspected terrorists or
militants whose identities are not known, but whose "pattern of life
activity" would seem to indicate that they are involved in some
militant/terrorist activity. These activities could range, for example,
from associating with known terrorists in an Al Qaeda hujra (guest house)
to sneaking across the border into Afghanistan from Pakistan's
Taliban-controlled tribal zones with a group of Taliban insurgents.

DanG

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