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Complete Title: The Seven Deadly Sins of John Brennan What Obama's high priest of targeted killings doesn't want you to know. Last week, I introduced readers to John Brennan, the U.S. president's closest advisor for intelligence and counter-terrorism issues. Although Americans know little about Brennan, he plays an essential role in shaping and implementing the expansive, unprecedented targeted killing of suspected terrorists and militants. He is, the New York Times reported, citing administration officials, the "priest whose blessing has become indispensable" to Obama. After Brennan lost out on the nomination for CIA director, he became the White House's homeland security...

GERMAN Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble caused a stir today after proposing a security policy that would allow the indefinite detention and "targeted killing" of terror suspects. Peter Struck, parliamentary group leader of the Social Democrats, half of Chancellor Angela Merkel's left-right ruling coalition, expressed shock at Mr Schaeuble's remarks, which included a call to ban the use of the internet and mobile phones by suspect foreigners living in Germany. "That has no place in a coalition," Mr Struck told the daily Frankfurter Rundschau. "(Schaeuble's) new proposals on banning cellular phones could only be implemented in a police state." Mr Struck...

JERUSALEM - The Israeli Supreme Court on Thursday upheld Israel's policy of targeted killings of Palestinian militants, allowing the army to maintain a practice that has drawn widespread international condemnation. The unanimous ruling from a three-judge panel fixed some legal limits, but it did not insist on prior court approval for the attacks, leaving the limits only theoretical and endorsing the killings in practice. Israel has defended the practice as necessary to prevent terror attacks, including suicide bombings. But the original justification of stopping "ticking bombs" has been expanded over the years to targeting militant leaders, including field commanders and...

JERUSALEM: On a day of remembrance for Israel's fallen soldiers yesterday, Israeli Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon warned the army would continue to assassinate leaders of radical Palestinian movements. "Pre-emptive strikes will continue because they undeniably weaken terrorist organisations," General Yaalon told public radio in an interview marking Israel's Remembrance Day. But he admitted the killing of militant Palestinian leaders did "not immediately dent the motivation" of radical organisations and risked fanning the flames of violence through retaliatory attacks. The speech came as Palestinian fighters fired on a military vehicle in the southern West Bank near Hebron yesterday, killing an...

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) declared after a botched strike against Hamas' revered founder that all members of the Islamic militant group were "marked for death." But as Israel edges toward all-out war with Hamas, a debate brewed Sunday over the morality of "targeted killings" and whether the policy can deter militants. The decision to ratchet up the war on Hamas — after the group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing last month that killed 22 Israelis, including six children — has considerable public support, and on Sunday, Israeli helicopters fired two missiles at the home...