A JUST-LEAKED United States Justice Department memo gives details of the ‘legal basis’ for authorising unmanned drone strikes to kill American citizens abroad.
The document, obtained by NBC News, says that the Obama administration considers that the use of lethal force on Americans abroad is ‘lawful’ if they are judged to pose an ‘imminent threat’ to the US, or if their capture is not feasible.
Under President Obama the US has expanded its use of drones to kill thousands of civilians, notably in Pakistan and Yemen, describing them as ‘al-Qaeda militants’, claiming that it is acting in self-defence in accordance with international law.
In fact, the drone strikes amount to execution without trial, murdering many civilians, men, women and children.
Among those killed by a drone strike was US citizen Anwar al-Awlaki, described as ‘an al-Qaeda suspect’, who was hit by a missile in Yemen in September 2011.
The undated 16-page Justice Department White Paper claims that US ‘sovereignty is violated’ if the host nation gives its consent or is unwilling or unable to suppress the threat posed by the individual targeted.
It sets out a ‘legal framework’ for the use of lethal force against US citizens in foreign countries.
This concludes that such killings do not violate the US Constitution as long as an informed, high-level official of the US government has determined that the targeted individual poses an imminent threat of violent attack against the US; that capture is ‘infeasible’ and that the operation is conducted ‘in a manner consistent with applicable law of war principles’.
However, as far as ‘imminent threat’ is concerned, the papers declare that it is not necessary to produce evidence that a specific attack is being planned, if the target is ‘generally’ engaged in plotting against the US.
The paper also asserts that courts should not play a role in reviewing or controlling any such decisions.
The American government has been under growing pressure from politicians in Congress to provide more details of its drone strike programme, including secret legal documents.
Last month the United Nations launched an inquiry into the impact of US drone strikes on civilians.