The Pentagon is considering under what circumstances it will recommend President Barack Obama authorize the use of a missile-equipped drone to kill the leader of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, CNN has learned. Any such mission to kill al-Baghdadi would have to be approved by Obama, according to several defense officials CNN has spoken to at length. All of the officials have direct knowledge of the intelligence gathering efforts in Iraq, but declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the information. "He is a person of great interest to us," one defense official told CNN. If the U.S. military were to recommend a drone strike against al-Baghdadi, there would have to be specific and detailed intelligence showing his location at the moment of a strike and  intelligence to assure that civilians would not be at risk. In order to launch a kill mission, the U.S. has to demonstrate the target poses a threat to the U.S. Al-Baghdadi's ISIS organization does threaten the U.S. Embassy and U.S. citizens in Iraq, according to U.S. officials.
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Pentagon considering when to recommend authorizing drone strike agains ISIS leader
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Any mission to kill ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi would need Obama's approval
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Al-Baghdadi has $10 million bounty on his head through Reward for Justice program
@placeholder official: 'No reason to doubt' video's authenticity of al-Baghdadi