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U.S. intelligence chief talks about [killing] American targets
Reuters ^ | Feb 3, 2010 | By Tabassum Zakaria

Posted on 02/03/2010 2:02:05 PM PST by Jim Robinson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In unusually frank public comments, the top U.S. intelligence chief said on Wednesday that spy agencies could target Americans involved in terrorism but must get permission before a potentially deadly strike.

"We take direct action against terrorists, in the intelligence community," Dennis Blair, director of national intelligence, said at a House committee hearing.

"If ... we think that direct action will involve killing an American, we get specific permission to do that," he said, without mentioning where the permission came from.

The Washington Post reported last week that President Barack Obama approved a December 24 strike against a compound in Yemen where a U.S. citizen, Anwar al-Aulaqi, was believed to be meeting with regional al Qaeda leaders.

The CIA and the U.S. military's Joint Special Operations Command maintain lists of individuals they seek to kill or capture, and both lists included at least three Americans, The Washington Post said.

The comment on American targets in a public setting is highly unusual from a current intelligence official and even the congressman asking the questions was caught by surprise.

In making such decisions, "whether that American is involved in a group that is trying to attack us, whether that American is a threat to other Americans, those are the factors involved," Blair said.

"We don't target people for free speech. We target them for taking action that threatens Americans," he said.

(Excerpt) Read more at af.reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bho44; cia; dennisblair; espionage; fourth100days; globaljihad; government; gwot; jihad; jihadinamerica; licensetokill; nationalsecurity; wot
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In other news, the director of Homeland Security declares "Bible-toting, Constitution defending" Tea Party people as potential security threats...
1 posted on 02/03/2010 2:02:05 PM PST by Jim Robinson
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To: Jim Robinson

Wonder if they will read us our Miranda rights?


2 posted on 02/03/2010 2:03:47 PM PST by Jim Robinson (Join the TEA Party Rebellion!! Just vote them OUT!!)
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To: Jim Robinson

Paint yourself black and get a Nigerian passport, you might have a shot.


3 posted on 02/03/2010 2:04:51 PM PST by pissant (THE Conservative party: www.falconparty.com)
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To: Jim Robinson

they gave up their right to be called American the minute they supported islamic jihad.


4 posted on 02/03/2010 2:05:31 PM PST by chuck_the_tv_out ( <<< click my name: now featuring Freeper classifieds)
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To: Jim Robinson
a December 24 strike against a compound in Yemen

Why does that date seem familiar to me for a strike on a compound? December 24...12/24...24....24...

That's it!


5 posted on 02/03/2010 2:06:27 PM PST by Cletus.D.Yokel
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To: Jim Robinson

Hm, this could be read in quite a disturbing mindset: what if we, as a people, were to block-in DC, grinding ALL traffic to a halt and demanding that the Government, say, acted with fiscal responsibility and no longer spent more than it ‘makes’?

Could _THAT_ be considered harmful to America?


6 posted on 02/03/2010 2:06:39 PM PST by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: Jim Robinson
""We don't target people for free speech. We target them for taking action that threatens Americans""

For now...

7 posted on 02/03/2010 2:06:52 PM PST by Abathar (Proudly posting without reading the article carefully since 2004)
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To: Jim Robinson

That fine line just got a whole lot fuzzier.


8 posted on 02/03/2010 2:07:46 PM PST by TADSLOS (Presidential charisma without repect for liberty is a dangerous trait.)
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To: Jim Robinson
"We don't target people for free speech. We target them for taking action that threatens Americans," he said..."Unless DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano deems their speech threatening to Americans, then it's on"
9 posted on 02/03/2010 2:08:04 PM PST by bamahead (Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master. -- Sallust)
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To: Jim Robinson
Bush/Cheney were a bunch of ACLU’ers compared to these tactics.
10 posted on 02/03/2010 2:08:30 PM PST by BallyBill (WARNING:Taking me serious could cause stress related illness.)
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To: Jim Robinson
You just jumped the shark with that comment.
11 posted on 02/03/2010 2:09:32 PM PST by verity (Obama Lies)
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To: Jim Robinson

When people who are American citizens take up arms in a foreeign force at war with the United States, it is an automatic revokation of their American citizenship and all that it entails. That is the Law, and has been the law, for as long as I can remember. Every American that has joined Al Quaeda, is NO LONGER AN AMERICAN CITIZEN NO MATTER WHAT THE SHYSTER ENEMY ACLU PLAGUE RATS SAY!!!


12 posted on 02/03/2010 2:11:37 PM PST by DGHoodini (Iran Azadi!)
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To: Jim Robinson

When was this ever NOT true? Heck, they got Bonnie and Clyde.


13 posted on 02/03/2010 2:13:00 PM PST by RobRoy (The US today: Revelation 18:4)
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To: OneWingedShark
Hm, this could be read in quite a disturbing mindset: what if we, as a people, were to block-in DC, grinding ALL traffic to a halt and demanding that the Government, say, acted with fiscal responsibility and no longer spent more than it ‘makes’? Could _THAT_ be considered harmful to America?

There's a reference to Valkerie in all of this to me.

14 posted on 02/03/2010 2:14:03 PM PST by camerongood210
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To: Jim Robinson
"We don't target people for free speech. We target them for taking action that threatens Americans," he said.

I guess it depends on what the definition of "threatens" and "Americans" means........

I don't trust leftist liberal moral relativists when it comes to defining terms.

15 posted on 02/03/2010 2:15:59 PM PST by OB1kNOb (I'd rather be over the hill than under it.)
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To: Jim Robinson

“...target them for taking action that threatens Americans...”

Uhmmm…I wonder, can they also do the same to crazy-arse and POS Illegal aliens, foreigners, and foreign leaders that “threaten Americans”? Or are they exempt and is this an attempt to target only Americans with impunity.


16 posted on 02/03/2010 2:16:50 PM PST by ntmxx (I am not so sure about this misdirection!)
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To: Jim Robinson; potlatch; devolve; ntnychik

17 posted on 02/03/2010 2:19:00 PM PST by PhilDragoo (Hussein: Islamo-Commie from Kenya)
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To: Jim Robinson

The umm *rights* will be plainly printed on the Hellfire. Read quickly.


18 posted on 02/03/2010 2:21:17 PM PST by wolfcreek (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lsd7DGqVSIc)
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To: PhilDragoo; devolve; ntnychik; MeekOneGOP; bitt; Lady Jag; FARS; dixiechick2000; Seadog Bytes; ...
Hmmm, and meanwhile The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is purchasing Remington shotguns for the Criminal Investigation Division. Shoot, I never knew the IRS NEEDED guns to do its job! They didn't use them for Obama’s tax dodging CZARS!

Good graphic Phil.

19 posted on 02/03/2010 2:30:21 PM PST by potlatch (- What a co-inky-dink-)
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To: Jim Robinson
Your comment is written in such a way as to invite the reader to come to a conclusion. I have no idea what that conclusion is supposed to be, though. Would you mind elaborating?
20 posted on 02/03/2010 2:30:36 PM PST by Caesar Soze
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