Monday, Dec. 16, 2002.
Bush Gives the CIA More Power to Kill
By James Risen and David Johnston
New York Times Service WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has prepared a list of about two dozen terrorist leaders that the Central Intelligence Agency is authorized to kill if capture is impractical and civilian casualties can be minimized, senior military and intelligence officials said.
The previously undisclosed CIA list of targets includes top leaders of al-Qaida, like Osama bin Laden and his chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and other principal figures from al-Qaida and affiliated terrorist groups, the officials said. "It's the worst of the worst," one official said.
U.S. President George W. Bush has provided written legal authority to the CIA to hunt down and kill the terrorists without seeking further approval each time the agency is about to launch an operation. Some officials said the terrorist list was known as the "high-value target list."
A spokesman for the White House declined to discuss the list or issues involving the use of lethal force against terrorists. A spokesman for the CIA also declined to comment.
But Bush has not waived the executive order banning assassinations, officials said. The presidential authority to kill terrorists defines operatives of al-Qaida as enemy combatants and thus legitimate targets for lethal force.
Bush issued a presidential finding last year after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington providing the basic executive and legal authority for the CIA to either kill or capture terrorist leaders. Initially, the CIA used that authority to search for al-Qaida leaders in Afghanistan. The newer list represents an expanded CIA effort against a larger number of Qaida operatives outside of Afghanistan in countries like Yemen.
The president is not legally required to approve each name added to the list, nor is the CIA required to obtain presidential approval for specific attacks, although officials said Bush had been kept well informed about the CIA's operations.
In November, the CIA killed an al-Qaida leader in a remote region of Yemen using a pilotless Predator aircraft. Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, also known as Abu Ali, died along with five other people. Harethi is believed to have been on the list of al-Qaida leaders that the CIA had been authorized to kill.
Intelligence officials said the presidential finding authorizing the agency to use lethal force against terrorists was not limited to those included on the list. The president has given broad authority to the CIA to kill or capture operatives of al-Qaida around the world, the officials said. But officials said the group's most senior leaders on the list were the primary focus of the agency's efforts.
The list is updated periodically as the intelligence agency, in consultation with other counterterrorism agencies, deletes those al-Qaida leaders who are captured or killed, or adds names when intelligence indicates the emergence of a new leader.
The precise criteria for adding someone to the list are unclear, although the evidence against each person must be clear and convincing, the officials said.
Counterterrorism officials prefer to capture senior al-Qaida leaders for interrogation, if possible. They regard killing as a last resort in cases in which the location of a Qaida operative is known but capture would be too dangerous or logistically impossible, the officials said.
Some national security lawyers said the practice of drawing up lists of people who are subject to lethal force might blur the lines drawn by government's ban on assassinations. In the view of some lawyers, the prohibition applies not only to foreign leaders but to civilians.
American officials have said that Saddam Hussein would be a legitimate target in a war, as he is a military commander as well as Iraq's president.
Jeff Smith, a former general counsel of the CIA and now a lawyer in Washington, said it was important for the United States to keep the assassination ban intact. "We don't want to create a situation where assassination becomes an accepted form of behavior," he said. "We have to have clear criteria for the use of lethal force."
Bush Gives the CIA More Power to Kill
By James Risen and David Johnston
New York Times Service WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has prepared a list of about two dozen terrorist leaders that the Central Intelligence Agency is authorized to kill if capture is impractical and civilian casualties can be minimized, senior military and intelligence officials said.
The previously undisclosed CIA list of targets includes top leaders of al-Qaida, like Osama bin Laden and his chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and other principal figures from al-Qaida and affiliated terrorist groups, the officials said. "It's the worst of the worst," one official said.
U.S. President George W. Bush has provided written legal authority to the CIA to hunt down and kill the terrorists without seeking further approval each time the agency is about to launch an operation. Some officials said the terrorist list was known as the "high-value target list."
A spokesman for the White House declined to discuss the list or issues involving the use of lethal force against terrorists. A spokesman for the CIA also declined to comment.
But Bush has not waived the executive order banning assassinations, officials said. The presidential authority to kill terrorists defines operatives of al-Qaida as enemy combatants and thus legitimate targets for lethal force.
Bush issued a presidential finding last year after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington providing the basic executive and legal authority for the CIA to either kill or capture terrorist leaders. Initially, the CIA used that authority to search for al-Qaida leaders in Afghanistan. The newer list represents an expanded CIA effort against a larger number of Qaida operatives outside of Afghanistan in countries like Yemen.
The president is not legally required to approve each name added to the list, nor is the CIA required to obtain presidential approval for specific attacks, although officials said Bush had been kept well informed about the CIA's operations.
In November, the CIA killed an al-Qaida leader in a remote region of Yemen using a pilotless Predator aircraft. Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, also known as Abu Ali, died along with five other people. Harethi is believed to have been on the list of al-Qaida leaders that the CIA had been authorized to kill.
Intelligence officials said the presidential finding authorizing the agency to use lethal force against terrorists was not limited to those included on the list. The president has given broad authority to the CIA to kill or capture operatives of al-Qaida around the world, the officials said. But officials said the group's most senior leaders on the list were the primary focus of the agency's efforts.
The list is updated periodically as the intelligence agency, in consultation with other counterterrorism agencies, deletes those al-Qaida leaders who are captured or killed, or adds names when intelligence indicates the emergence of a new leader.
The precise criteria for adding someone to the list are unclear, although the evidence against each person must be clear and convincing, the officials said.
Counterterrorism officials prefer to capture senior al-Qaida leaders for interrogation, if possible. They regard killing as a last resort in cases in which the location of a Qaida operative is known but capture would be too dangerous or logistically impossible, the officials said.
Some national security lawyers said the practice of drawing up lists of people who are subject to lethal force might blur the lines drawn by government's ban on assassinations. In the view of some lawyers, the prohibition applies not only to foreign leaders but to civilians.
American officials have said that Saddam Hussein would be a legitimate target in a war, as he is a military commander as well as Iraq's president.
Jeff Smith, a former general counsel of the CIA and now a lawyer in Washington, said it was important for the United States to keep the assassination ban intact. "We don't want to create a situation where assassination becomes an accepted form of behavior," he said. "We have to have clear criteria for the use of lethal force."
