Chapter 6, Part 2 Summary

On November 3, 2002, an American unmanned aircraft called a Predator fired a missile that destroyed an automobile in Yemen. The target was believed to be an Al Qaeda operative. All five persons in the vehicle were killed. The operation was hailed as a success by the Bush Administration. This action also opened up a Pandora's box on state-sponsored assassination, which had been closed by presidential order since 1976. In the wake of September 11, the killing of Al Qaeda members without judicial process was seen as acceptable, but the wisdom and ethics of this program were questioned, especially by the Special Forces themselves.

Rumsfeld had been unhappy with the lack of speed in the months after September 11 in taking immediate action against targets. The term "actionable intelligence" became the buzz phrase to describe the level of confidence that an attack would occur. Many members...