Thursday's global agenda: Obama's kill list

Your morning global affairs speed-read

President Obama's ever-expanding terrorist kill list is receiving new scrutiny thanks to a three-part series from The Washington Post. Thursday's paper examines the role of counterterrorism adviser John O. Brennan.

Key takeaway: “Brennan and others on the inside found that Obama … was willing to move far more aggressively than Bush against perceived extremists.”

With almost 3,000 people killed by drone strikes over the past decade and no sign of abatement, the secretive policy is starting to cause headaches for an administration that had prided itself in taking a less confrontational stance with the rest of the world. Asked about a strike in Yemen last year that killed Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a 16-year-old American citizen with no known ties to terrorism, senior Obama campaign adviser Robert Gibbs in an interview with the liberal WeAreChange.org laid the blame on al-Awlaki's father, an al Qaeda member who was also killed in a drone strike.

“I would suggest that you should have a far more responsible father if they are truly concerned about the well-being of their children,” Gibbs said. One U.S. official quoted by the Post called the killing “an outrageous mistake … They were going after the guy sitting next to him.”

Endorsed: Former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Obama for president on Thursday — again. He told CBS News that Mitt Romney had provided a “moving target” with regard to his policies on Iraq and Afghanistan.

“One day he has a certain strong view about staying in Afghanistan but then on Monday night [during the presidential debate] he agrees with the withdrawal. Same thing in Iraq," Powell said. "On every issue that was discussed on Monday night, Gov. Romney agreed with the president, with some nuances, but this is quite a different set of foreign-policy views than he had earlier in the campaign."

In other news: 

An al Qaeda-inspired group rejected a short holiday truce in Syria. [Associated Press]

Meanwhile, a New York Times reporter embedded with Bashar Assad's army tells the story of the war in Syria from the government's side.

Sudan is accusing Israel of attacking a munitions factory in Khartoum, The Associated Press reports. Sudan is suspected of smuggling arms to Hamas-controlled Gaza, which has fired more than 60 into Israel over the past two days. [The New York Times].

Republicans are getting used to the idea of having Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) take the top GOP spot on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. [Foreign Policy]

A local guard force contractor failed to provide replacement protection to the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan during a three-day guard strike in June 2011, the State Department's inspector general said in a report.

What you might have missed on Global Affairs:

Obama to renew sanctions against those involved in DRC conflict

Obama administration turns the tables on Russia's claims about US weapons in Syria

Afghanistan raps Obama administration over borders

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