Operation Troy

Although as with the Abbottabad raid in May, all initial accounts should be taken with a grain of salt, the Telegraph (UK) has an interesting account of how Anwar al-Awlaki was finally caught.

Although he was successfully targeted by a drone, the key to locating the radical cleric was apparently the capture of a junior courier by Yemeni agents.  This is consistent with the broader history of strategic manhunts which emphasizes the importance of human intelligence and cooperation with indigenous forces, and together with the previous New York Times account highlighting the difference in support for al-Awlaki and AQAP in southern Yemen (AQAP's base of operations) and northern Yemen (where he was killed), this supports the conclusion that human terrain was the most important factor in targeting al-Awlaki.