BOOM! Bigger Fish than al-Awlaki Killed in same Predator Drone Strike

Remember that near-miss terror attack last year when bombs were planted inside printer cartridges? The man responsible for making those bombs - as well as the Christmas Day bomb that failed to detonate over Detroit - was killed in the same Predator drone strike that killed Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan, the publisher of al-Qaeda magazine. Ibrahim al-Asiri was al-Qaeda's top Saudi top bomb maker. While al-Awlaki is widely credited with having been the inspiration for Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to put a bomb in his pants that was supposed to detonate over a major city, it was apparently al-Asiri who gave him the means.

Via AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two US officials say the drone strike in Yemen that killed Anward al-Awlaki appears to have also killed al-Qaida's top Saudi bomb-maker.

Officials say intelligence indicates Ibrahim al-Asiri also died in the attack. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the death has not been officially confirmed.

Al-Asiri is the bomb-maker believed to have made the explosives used in the foiled Christmas Day airline attack in 2009 and last year's attempted cargo plane bombing.

Assuming this report pans out, take some solace the next time you're getting groped by a TSA agent that the dirtbags who make up the trio directly responsible for that groping are either in custody or dead.

Underwear Bomber: In jail
Inspiration for Underwear Bomber: In ground
Builder of Underwear Bomber's bomb: In ground

CNN has more on Samir Khan HERE. Click HERE to jog your memory on the printer cartridge bomb plot from last year.

Coming in with the other side of this argument is none other than 9/11 Truther magnet, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX). While at a campaign stop in New Hampshire, he fed a little red meat to his '9/11 was an inside job' base:



h/t Jawa and Hot Air

Anwar al-Awlaki Killed

The guy responsible for inspiring Nidal Malik Hasan to go on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, TX, killing 14 and injuring 32 is now, himself dead. Anwar al-Awlaki was also credited with being the inspiration for Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the underwear bomber who attempted to detonate a bomb on a plane during its descent into Detroit. The Times Square bomber, Faisal Shahzad also gave credit to al-Awlaki for motivating him to kill infidels.

Via the BBC:

The US-born radical Islamist cleric and suspected al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki has been killed in Yemen, the country's defence ministry reported.

US administration officials confirmed the reports, according to US media.

Awlaki, of Yemeni descent, has been on the run in Yemen since December 2007.

The US had named him a "specially designated global terrorist" for his alleged role in a number of attacks and US President Barack Obama is said to have personally ordered his killing.

The defence ministry statement said only that he died "along with some of his companions".

It gave no further details of his death.

But tribal sources told AFP news agency Awlaki was killed in an air strike in the eastern Marib province, said to be an al-Qaeda stronghold.

It is not clear whether he was killed by Yemeni forces or a US drone strike.

This is a big deal in many respects. Awlaki was a US citizen and was very fluent in both English and Arabic. He also was credited with taking internet jihad to a new level.

h/t Free Republic

U.S. CLOSES ITS EMBASSY IN YEMEN

As this administration continues to show more interest in bullying Tea Partiers, Town Hallers, and Christians who actually go to church, I'm simply struck by another trait being exhibited by Obama and company that is common to bullies - backing down. This is not American, pure and simple. I'm also struck by the fact that the policies of this administration towards terrorists have actually precipitated this closure.

KSM is readying an appearance at a civilian trial in NYC, blocks away from the 9/11 attacks and our Attorney General (Eric Holder) not only has a history of releasing terrorists but of working as a partner with a firm, Covington Burling, that represented Guantanamo inmates pro-bono.

In one sense, the despicable and common pasts shared by many in this administration are coming home to roost. In another sense, the cowardice its exhibiting to the world while acting as a bully at home is heartbreaking.

Quoting from the official statement on the embassy closure in Yemen:

January 03, 2010
The U.S. Embassy in Sana’a is closed today, January 3, 2010, in response to ongoing threats by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to attack American interests in Yemen.

Obama is such a strong leader! Shutting down our embassy in Yemen abroad and bullying senior citizens who oppose government run health care at home.

HERE is a link to the official government page.

NO MO CLOSE GUANTANAMO TALK

Webmaster Mitch sent this one in from National Review. Underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab is a Nigerian with ties not only to radical Muslim 9/11 Imam, al-Awlaki, who provided spiritual counsel to Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan but to Yemen itself. al-Awlaki should be in American custody since 2002 when he was detained and then released at JFK airport.

al-Awlaki is now in Yemen. Half of Camp Gitmo's detention center is made up of Yemenis. Re-patrioting them to Yemen would put the United States in further danger unnecessarily.

NRO Editors Report:

Less than two weeks ago, the Obama administration repatriated to Yemen six detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. It was a test. About 90 of the 200 or so remaining Gitmo detainees are Yemenis. The president would like to move toward fulfilling his promise to close Gitmo, and thus to appease the antiwar Left, by transferring most of those Yemeni jihadists back home.

On Christmas Day, we got yet another indicator of how reckless this obsession with closing Gitmo is. A well-to-do Nigerian jihadist, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, tried to destroy Northwest Airlines Flight 253, carrying 289 passengers and crew, as it was preparing to land in Detroit after a flight from Amsterdam. The 23-year-old Mutallab attempted to ignite an incendiary chemical bomb, the components of which he assembled in flight after smuggling them onto the aircraft. He reportedly confessed to the FBI that he had been trained and tasked for the operation by al-Qaeda in Yemen.

The absurdity of DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano's words recently is not lost on them either:

There is abundant reason to credit the mutually reinforcing claims of collusion by Mutallab and al-Qaeda. Certainly, they are more believable at this time than the groundless assertion from the homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, that Mutallab is not part of a broader terrorist conspiracy. That lone-wolf theory echoes the preposterous “no terrorism here” assurances the secretary offered after the Fort Hood massacre, notwithstanding solid links between the shooter and an al-Qaeda recruiter. It is nearly as absurd as Napolitano’s assertion that “the system worked” against the Christmas Day strike.

Gitmo has been slowly bleeding out its inmates for some time, meaning the ones that are left are among the most dangerous. Yet, Obama seems totally invested in appeasing that far leftwing radical base of his.

Read the WHOLE THING.