The Pentagon has a plan that would recommend US President Barack Obama authorizes drone attacks against the leader of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

The Pentagon has a plan that would recommend US President Barack Obama authorizes drone attacks against the leader of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Several defense officials spoke to the news network and said that the circumstances that would allow President Obama to order a drone strike are being deliberated. “He is a person of great interest to us,” a defense official pentagon told CNN Wednesday of the terrorist organization’s leader.

For a kill mission to happen, the U.S. must prove that the target poses a threat to the U.S. and its interests, such as the U.S. Embassy staff in Baghdad. Such a strike must be approved by Obama.

The US has already placed a $10 million bounty on Baghdadi's head. According to CNN, Baghdadi is essentially on a US “kill list” and is one of Washington’s “high value targets” on whom US forces are collecting intelligence.

Meanwhile, some US officials – including Obama’s former ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, and Republican Sen. John McCain – have repeatedly raised concerns about the threat posed by ISIL militants to America.

Officials told the network that capturing al-Baghdadi alive would be a difficult task since the U.S. military allegedly does not have combat troops on the ground in either Iraq or Syria.