Is Glenn Greenwald a liar?

[geek tragedy]

48. That's a very weak defense of Greenwald's mendacity

1) Since I don't have a pencil and paper to diagram the sentence for you:

As of several months ago, the CIA list included three US citizens, and an intelligence official said that Aulaqi's name has now been added."

"As of several months ago" is an adverbial phrase modifying the verb phrase "included three US citizens."

The sentence uses "now" to modify the clause "Aulaqi's name has NOW been added."

Given that the article was published in January 2010, "now" does not mean "several months ago."

It is similarly untrue that JSOC adding a name to a "High Value Target" constitutes an attempt to kill them.

As a threshold matter, putting a name on a list is not an attempt to kill someone. This should be clear. Shooting at someone is an attempt to kill them, as is putting arsenic in their coffee. Putting their name on a list, nope.

Going beyond that, the military "High Value Target" designation does not put them on a "kill list"--it doesn't even describe what action is to be taken. It describes the person's role and importance within an enemy organization.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-value_target
http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/new_pubs/jp1_02.pdf

high-value target: A target the enemy commander requires for successful completion of the mission. Also called HVT. See also high-payoff target; target.

And just to wrap this up:

target: an entity or object that performs a function for the adversary considered for engagement or other action.

So, what Priest wrote is that the JSOC late in 2009 designated Al Awlaki as an important person within the AQ command structure, and that in 2010 Priest wrote that his name "now" was added to the CIA's list.

Which again, is in no way, shape or form what Greenwald claims it is. It's explicitly not what he claimed.