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| Dees Illustration |
Up until now the Obama Administration has been coy about their policy to kill Americans abroad using drones.
Today, Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed that this administration has killed four Americans with drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan, and admitted one was killed deliberately.
According to the New York Times:
In a letter to Congressional leaders obtained by The New York Times, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. disclosed that the administration had deliberately killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric who was killed in a drone strike in September 2011 in Yemen.
The American responsibility for Mr. Awlaki’s death has been widely reported, but the administration had until now refused to confirm or deny it.
The letter also said that the United States had killed three other Americans: Samir Khan, who was killed in the same strike; Mr. Awlaki’s son Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, who was also killed in Yemen; and Jude Mohammed, who was killed in a strike in Pakistan.The letter says "Since 2009, the United States, in the conduct of U.S. counterterrorism operations against al-Qa'ida and its associated forces outside of areas of active hostilities, has specifically targeted and killed one U.S. citizen, Anwar al-Aulaqi (Awlaki)."
In other words, the administration admits to deliberately killing a U.S. citizen without due process. The target was merely suspected of being a terror threat and this president clearly ignored his rights under the Constitution. No evidence has ever been provided to prove his guilt. It was all done in secret.
Holder claims in the letter that al-Awlaki was involved in "direct actions in planning attacks" and, therefore, was a legitimate target under his interpretation of the law.
See full letter below:
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| See the PDF of the letter here. |
This letter echoes Holder's legal interpretation that he presented in a speech at Northwestern last year when the drone assassination program was still classified.
The problem is that his interpretation has been thoroughly debunked as unconstitutional and tyrannical. Watch the video below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ68KY96zKQ&feature=player_embedded
Amid mounting scandals, this admission will likely spur yet another Congressional hearing to determine the constitutionality of this Administration actions.
