[ ]Cheney and Bill Kristol [ ] bumping each other ...
In a discreet unnamed location .
Just lay back and do it for America ...

Our successes are due to the bravery and skill of our armed forces. While they were taking out the terrorists, BHO was off kowtowing to the Norwegians.

Thank you to our brave armed forces, and to our president, for the renewed focus on al Qaeda terrorists after six years of neglect. The record of accomplishment drowns out the naysayers, and they can't stand it.

"given his central role, this probably included plotting attacks against the United States and Europe,"

So we are now roaming the world, using missiles to kill people who are probably planning attacks on us wherever they may be. When does that become people who might attack us, or even think about attacking us?

Or
[ ] Saleh al-Somali was responsible for al Qaeda's operations outside of the Afghanistan-Pakistan region and formed part of al Qaeda's senior leadership circle. He is also said to have had "connections with other Pakistan-based extremists."

Al-Somali was engaged in plotting terrorist acts around the world and "given his central role, this probably included plotting attacks against the United States and Europe," the official said.

Al-Somali took operations guidance from senior al Qaeda leaders and "translated it into operational blueprints for prospective terrorist attacks," the official added.

The driver of a bank robbery car is just as guilty as the actual gun holding robber . Our law is that the organising factor makes it a conspiracy , so all for one and one for all .

Unless you are saying he was uninvolved your point eludes me .

Why do these "releases" sound exactly like similar releases from Vietnam, "#2 Viet Cong killed in raid on xxxxxx. Incipient collapse of insurgency anticipated."

It is an insurgency. It's very adaptability does not concern itself with individuals, even "highly placed" individuals.

The US use of drones has driven many to the insurgency, of which some could easily take this person's place.

Let us face it. This is all about the economy. Pulling out would collapse the US economy in bad ways.

"We've since learned more about what transpired, and why it matters."

*We*? You mean MSM people were told this story by the military, and now blog writers are repeating it. Lazy phrasing lends an imprimatur of "reportage" - but no effort was made to find independent sources to corroborate (it would be difficult or impossible even if reporters wanted to verify it).

Better would be for the MSM to say something like, "the US military said X,Y,Z today. We did not independently verify this, nor attempt to." Better still would occasionally add, "these stories have proved to be lies/propaganda/exaggeration in the past on occasion A,B,C, and such stories serve the government's interests due to P,Q, and R."

"Fortunately, the evidence to the contrary is overwhelming."

Mr. Benen is so busy selling Team Obama, one wonders what he thinks. Is it actually *FORTUNATE* that the US is engaged in extrajudicial killings/assassinations, justified by nothing but the word of our military and government? (Did Mr. Benen criticize this practice under Bush II)?

As even the Washington Post and this very magazine have reported, *al Qaeda* is often just whoever some relevant party wants eliminated. Intra-Sunni tribal battles in Iraq throw around the al Qaeda label, as do intelligence agencies when it suits them, as do powers in Sudan, Somalia, Philippines against rivals). Not saying the bad guys here were not terrorists, just that it's a bad practice subject to abuse.

The question I always have reading Mr. Benen on foreign policy issues: is he a neo-con (violence against Muslims is an unqualified good) or such a Democratic partisan that he only questions lies from the other team, or too gullible to question conventional wisdom, something else?

THE EXISTENCE OF AL-FRESCO IS AN ILLUSION.

UBL WAS DEAD BY EARLY 2001. it must not be ignored that the FBI does not identify UBL[aka OBL] as having anything to do with the events of 11/09/01.

the rationale for these fascist military excursions can best be described as US-TREASURY LOOTING.

and any and all excuses will be invented to persuade the amerikan sheep to countenance that looting.

these wars are very enriching of the amerikan mafiyah. an organization that is not exclusively sicilian. it is also jewish. russian. and waspish.

The report says nothing about whether any other people were killed as a result of the drone attack. Since this situation contributes to some extent to the perpetuation of anti-American sentiment, the reportage of such information helps to establish (at least for me) a wider context for the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of these "high-profile" kills. As another commenter alluded to, this sounds so much like a Vietnam-era news report.

Liz Cheney will still show up on Sunday talk to accuse Obama of not wanting to "defend America".

It's disgusting how many people accept these kind of stories at face value after all the proven lies.
What's worse is all the expert opinions flying around all based on detailed stories that can't be trusted.

I have no respect for foolish and credulous Americans.