THE BATTLE GOES ON - AT 9:49 A.M. ET:  This isn't exactly in the Christmas spirit, but must be reported. 

SANAA (Reuters) – A radical Muslim preacher linked by U.S. intelligence to a gunman who killed 13 people at a U.S. Army base is believed to have died in a Yemen airstrike on al Qaeda militants, a security official said on Thursday.

"Anwar al Awlaki is suspected to be dead (in the air raid)," said the Yemeni official, who asked not to be identified. Yemen said 30 militants were killed in the strike in the eastern province of Shabwa.

The gunman in the November 5 shooting at the Fort Hood, Texas army base, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, had contacts with Awlaki late last year, U.S. authorities believe.

COMMENT:  If Obama ordered the attack, we back him.  We are at war with Al Qaeda, and must chase them all over the world.  The president's left wing will be appalled, and will have fainting spells, but we must commit these American fringe elements to the dustbin of history, where they have long belonged.

December 24, 2009