SUMMARY:
The American organization known as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is facing some backlash after reportedly paying Aminah, a CIA double agent, to marry terrorist Anwar al Awlaki. Their main purpose for doing so was in an attempt to locate and kill al Awlaki, one of the world’s most wanted terrorists. According to reports, the plot failed when al Awlaki’s men told Aminah to abandon her suitcases and other luggage, all of which had been unknowingly bugged by the CIA. Aminah claims that, should the plan have fallen through, both she and al Awlaki would have been killed in a CIA drone strike (al Awlaki was killed in a drone strike around September 2011). While the plans may not have been a success, the marriage, reportedly was. Following al Awlaki’s murder, Aminah wanted to go on a suicide mission in order to avenge his death, but al Qaeda ultimately decided against it.
IMPACT:
Due to the fact that this was not a highly publicized event, there is not going to many people impacted by it. Obviously Aminah and al Awlaki will be impacted because one of them is dead and the other basically watched her husband die. The CIA won’t have to deal with much negative backlash. The major impact on them will come from the fact that they may now think this is an acceptable way to find and kill people. In addition, there may be some actions taken by al Qaeda in order to revenge his death (although it is unlikely).
OPINION:
While I’m not a huge fan of the CIA in general because they like to secretly kill people and blame it on others but I do have to admit that this was a great idea. What better way to catch one of the most wanted terrorists than hire someone to pretend to like them? The whole fact of them actually getting married and having feelings for each other kind of takes away from the novelty of the event but hey. He still ended up dead in the end so that works.
The American organization known as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is facing some backlash after reportedly paying Aminah, a CIA double agent, to marry terrorist Anwar al Awlaki. Their main purpose for doing so was in an attempt to locate and kill al Awlaki, one of the world’s most wanted terrorists. According to reports, the plot failed when al Awlaki’s men told Aminah to abandon her suitcases and other luggage, all of which had been unknowingly bugged by the CIA. Aminah claims that, should the plan have fallen through, both she and al Awlaki would have been killed in a CIA drone strike (al Awlaki was killed in a drone strike around September 2011). While the plans may not have been a success, the marriage, reportedly was. Following al Awlaki’s murder, Aminah wanted to go on a suicide mission in order to avenge his death, but al Qaeda ultimately decided against it.
IMPACT:
Due to the fact that this was not a highly publicized event, there is not going to many people impacted by it. Obviously Aminah and al Awlaki will be impacted because one of them is dead and the other basically watched her husband die. The CIA won’t have to deal with much negative backlash. The major impact on them will come from the fact that they may now think this is an acceptable way to find and kill people. In addition, there may be some actions taken by al Qaeda in order to revenge his death (although it is unlikely).
OPINION:
While I’m not a huge fan of the CIA in general because they like to secretly kill people and blame it on others but I do have to admit that this was a great idea. What better way to catch one of the most wanted terrorists than hire someone to pretend to like them? The whole fact of them actually getting married and having feelings for each other kind of takes away from the novelty of the event but hey. He still ended up dead in the end so that works.