A US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has released a previously secret Obama administration memo outlining a legal justification for the government’s use of drones to target and kill individuals. The memo, released in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), authorizes the killing of innocents as “collateral damage.” The memo authorizes the Department of Defense and other agencies — including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) — to kill enemies without due process and court conviction regardless of citizenship status and without regard to whether innocent lives are taken in the attack.
US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruling to release drone memo and memorandum for the Attorney General (beginning on page 67).
The drone program was begun under the administration of George W. Bush to target foreign nationals overseas and was expanded by President Barack Obama to include the killing of American citizens. The government steadfastly refuses to disclose how many people it has killed with drone strikes. Last year, Michael Isikoff of NBC News published a 16-page Department of Justice whitepaper that outlined the administration’s legal justification for the drone program.
The government’s claim of legal justification for the drone program centers on authorization under the US war on terror — specifically, the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists — and international war rules. The government claimed its 2011 killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen, by drone strike in Yemen was justified because he was believed to be an al-Qaida recruiter. His 16-year-old son was also killed in the drone strike.
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In a secret 23 October 2001 37-page memo (.pdf; 11.9Mb)
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US court forces release of drone memo was originally published by ARTS & FARCES internet on Monday, 30 June 2014 at 6:35 AM CDT. Copyright © ARTS & FARCES LLC. All rights reserved. | ISSN: 1535-8119 | OCLC: 48219498 | Digital fingerprint: 974a89ee1284e6e92dd256bbfbef3751 (64.237.45.114)