The son of U.S.-born militant cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki killed in drone strike

(CNN) -- The son of U.S.-born militant cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki was among those killed in a trio of drone attacks in southern Yemen on Friday night, a security official said.

The attacks, carried out in the Shabwa district, killed seven suspected militants, the defense ministry said. It would not confirm that Abdul Rahman Anwar Awlaki was among them.
The senior security official in Shabwa, who did not want to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said the younger Awlaki had been hiding in the mountains of Shabwa for more than eight months. He had first-hand knowledge of the death, he said.
The Awlaki family did not want to comment.

On September 30, a U.S. drone strike killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born miltant cleric who was a key leader of the terrorist group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
President Barack Obama hailed that death as a "major blow" for the terror group.

Friday night's attack also killed Ibrahim al-Banna, the head media officer for AQAP, the Yemeni defense ministry said.

Another air show crash - this time China.

(AFP) – 8 hours ago

BEIJING — A fighter jet plunged to the ground and exploded as it took part in an air display at a show in northern China Friday, leaving one pilot missing, organisers and state media said.
China's state-run television CCTV showed images of the Chinese-made plane falling from the sky and bursting into flames when it hit the ground at the show in Xian, capital of Shaanxi province.
"One pilot parachuted out of the plane and is alive, the search for another pilot is ongoing," the China International General Aviation Convention -- organisers of the air show -- told AFP in a statement.

"There were no casualties on the ground."
The organisers did not say what type of fighter plane was involved in the crash. The official Xinhua news agency said it was a two-seat, fighter-bomber Flying Leopard -- or JH-7 -- a model officially launched in December 1988.

But CCTV said it was a Xiaolong ("Fierce Dragon") fighter jet -- or FC-1 -- which is the result of a joint Sino-Pakistani development programme that started in 1999.
"The plane had some malfunction and an investigation team has been sent to the scene," a spokeswoman at the aviation convention held in Xian's Pucheng Neifu airport told AFP earlier.
Xinhua reporters who were at the air display said they saw heavy smoke billowing from the ground after the crash, but added the show was continuing.

According to the People's Daily newspaper, some 100 foreign and domestic planes are being shown at the air show, and around 30 aircraft are putting on displays.

RPG downed Chinook - killed 38 CENTCOM says

(CNN) -- The August downing of a Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan that killed 38 people, including 17 U.S. Navy SEALs, was caused by a rocket-propelled grenade, fired by insurgents, that struck the aircraft's aft rotor blade, the U.S. Central Command officially confirmed on Wednesday.

An investigation determined that the "operational planning and execution" of the ill-fated August 6 mission in Wardak Province "were consistent with previous missions, and that the forces and capabilities were appropriate given the agility required to maintain pressure on insurgent networks," CENTCOM said in a news release issued Wednesday.

"There was no evidence of a pre-planned ambush," CENTCOM said.

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America to Iran - that was not nice - go to your room!

Washington (CNN) -- With many sanctions already in place, the U.S. government is poised to take an even stronger stance Wednesday against Iran amid allegations that Tehran was behind a plot to assassinate a Saudi envoy on U.S. soil.

A naturalized U.S. citizen holding Iranian and U.S. passports is in custody, and another -- a member of Iran's Revolutionary Guard -- is likewise charged in the alleged murder-for-hire scheme targeting Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States. Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday that elements of Iran's government directed the plan.

The accusations have rankled many throughout Washington.
Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, called carrying out such a scheme an "act of war" five times during a five-minute CNN interview.

Iranian amb: Terror plot is 'big lie' Iran diplomat denies terror plot King: Terror plot 'an act of war' Iran, Saudi Arabia tensions escalating
While outlining several other steps that Washington may take, he insisted that no options be ruled out.

"We should not be ... automatically saying we're not going to have military action," King said Tuesday night, saying that this "flagrant and notorious" alleged plot brought already testy relations between the United States and Iran to a "very precipitous level."

"Everything should be left on the table when you are talking about a potential attack (in) the United States, an act of war."

Mohammad Khazaee, Iran's permanent representative to the United Nations, said Tuesday night that he was "shocked to hear such a big lie."

He said the chain of events outlined by U.S. authorities was an "insult to the common sense" of people everywhere.

A senior U.S. defense official said Tuesday that there has been no change in U.S. military posture in reaction to the alleged terror plot.

No U.S. Navy ships, for example, have been repositioned and there currently are no plans to do so.

"The act is already done," the official said, noting the plot purportedly has been disrupted and calling it "much more of a law enforcement matter" than a military one.
"One of the people involved is still at large, but the other principal is in custody. So what does changing military posture do?"

Already, the U.S. government has numerous sanctions against Iranian interests, amid continuing concerns about Tehran's budding nuclear program and its alleged ties to terrorism.

The focus on this front will be to urge other nations to join Washington and get tougher on Iran, a senior State Department official said Tuesday.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other senior diplomatic officials will place calls to foreign leaders and U.N. Security Council representatives, the official said.

That includes reaching out to key figures from countries, such as Russia and China, which have diplomatic relations with both Washington and Tehran.
Senator condemns alleged Iranian plot Rep. Rogers: Terror plot a big deal Iran calls plot 'fabrication' Iran accused in other terror plots.

The United States also plans on getting in touch with leaders from the Gulf Cooperation Council (a coalition of Persian Gulf nations), the Organization of the Islamic Conference (which consists of 56 Islamic states and promotes Muslim solidarity) and the Arab League, said two Obama administration officials.
"It is a tremendous opportunity for the United States and the world to create pressure (on Iran)," Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, said on Tuesday. "We have the opportunity to change the dynamics."

The idea is to push others to enforce existing sanctions, implement new ones, cut ties with Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard and generally join the United States in a "chorus of international condemnation," according to the State Department official.
"(They'll) go to other countries and say this is a serious escalation of Iran's use of political violence," a senior Obama administration official added.
If there is an international debate, Iran fired its first salvo Tuesday night. Khazaee wrote U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to "express our outrage" over what he called "fabricated and baseless allegations."

"As the Secretary-General of the United Nations you have an important responsibility in enlightening the international public opinion about the dangerous consequences of warmongering policies of the United States government on international peace and security," the Iranian envoy wrote.

Yet such rhetoric has not appeared to have much of an impact, as of yet, in Washington, with politicians from both major parties insisting that the entire Iranian government be held responsible.

al Qaeda - blah -blah - revenge - blah -blah - Al-Awlaki so on and so forth.

This story brought to you by SEAL TEAM SIX.


CNN) -- The terrorist group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has confirmed the death of U.S.-born militant cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, calling him a martyr, according to a statement posted Sunday on jihadi internet forums.

Al-Awlaki was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Yemen on September 30, but American officials said internet postings following his death indicated many who share his ideas did not believe he had been killed and were seeking confirmation.

Another American named Samir Khan and two other people also died, officials said. Khan was the co-editor of the terrorist network's English-language online propaganda and recruiting magazine, Inspire.


The AQAP "eulogy" states that while the United States killed al-Awlaki, it "cannot kill his ideas," according to an English translation provided by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi forums.

The statement also picks up on a theme being discussed in the United States: whether the United States had the right to target and kill al-Awlaki without a legal trial and guilty verdict. The controversy is complicated by the fact al-Awlaki was a U.S. citizen.

The message said the United States killed al-Awlaki and Khan but "did not prove the accusation against them, and did not present evidence against them." The statement claims such actions go against the values the U.S. espouses.

The New York Times reported Sunday that the Justice Department prepared legal guidance in the summer of 2010 which said the United States could kill al-Awlaki if it was not possible to capture him.

In Sunday's message, AQAP also promised to "retaliate soon" for the deaths of al-Awlaki and the three others. The U.S. issued a worldwide alert earlier this month warning of "the potential for retaliation against U.S. citizens and interests" following al-Awlaki's killing.

Born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, al-Awlaki lived in the United States until the age of 7, when his family returned to Yemen. He returned to the United States in 1991 for college and remained until 2002.

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