[Ads-l] Signature strike explained

[Jonathan Lighter]

So it's the target that betrays a certain satellite "signature."

Who'd a thunk it?

JL

On Sun, Apr 26, 2015 at 5:23 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Signature strike explained
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> 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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