ACLU Believes Predator Drone Program May Be Illegal
Source: Raw Story
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit after federal agencies neglected to answer a Freedom of Information Act request seeking documents pertaining to the legal basis for the military’s Predator drone program.
The request specifically seeks information as to how the program is governed, who can be targeted, along with when and where, and the data on civilian casualties caused by the remote-controlled weapons.
It was originally filed on Jan. 13 with the departments of defense and justice, along with the Central Intelligence Agency, none of which replied, according to the non-profit.
“The public has a right to know whether the targeted killings being carried out in its name are consistent with international law and with the country’s interests and values,” said Jonathan Manes, a legal fellow with the ACLU National Security Project, in a media advisory. “The Obama administration should disclose basic information about the program, including its legal basis and limits, and the civilian casualty toll thus far.”
Meanwhile, the globalist thinktank Council on Foreign Relations is circulating an article by Harvard National Security Journal contributor Brett H. McGurk, offering a counter-point on the use of unmanned weapons of war, opening with a rather cold-cocked headline: “Lawyers: A Predator Drone’s Achilles Heel?”
Interestingly, in the article’s opening paragraphs, McGurk flatly states that law and ethics “take a back seat” to the “new tactics” arising from the use of drones.
“As a former official overseeing national strategy in two warzones, I appreciate how law and ethics can take a back seat to new tactics that turn the tide against committed enemies,” he wrote. “So long as the tactics are legally available, whatever the theory, then the tactics will be used. In Iraq, there have probably been more Predator drone strikes than anywhere else on earth – and with tremendous effect, degrading extremist networks and decapitating leadership cells. Drone attacks alone are not strategically sound, but when combined with a campaign to secure the population against common enemies, the strategic advantages are proven and empirical. The same strategy is now being employed in Afghanistan.”
The ACLU added: “The CIA and the military have used unmanned drones to target and kill individuals not only in Afghanistan and Iraq but also in Pakistan and, in at least one case in 2002, Yemen. The technology allows U.S. personnel to observe targeted individuals in real time and launch missiles intended to kill them from control centers located thousands of miles away. Recent reports, including public statements from the director of national intelligence, indicate that U.S. citizens have been placed on the list of targets who can be hunted and killed with drones.”
“While the Obama administration may legitimately withhold intelligence information as well as sensitive information about military strategy, it should disclose basic information about the scope of the drone program, the legal basis for the program and the civilian casualties that have resulted from the program,” argued ACLU attorney Jameel Jaffer, who heads the non-profit’s National Security Project.
Credible online reports on the number of civilians killed by Predator drones are rare to come by, leaving much of the reporting to outlets like Iranian media, Long War Journal, Pakistan Observer and others, which occasionally rely on information outside the chain of U.S. command, which typically gives lower casualty counts.
Drone aircraft are known to be currently deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. The United States and Colombia also recently secured a deal to house U.S. troops at Colombian military bases so they could pilot drones over the region to search for terrorists and drug traffickers. The move has angered neighboring countries in South America, causing some governments to bristle and Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in particular to warn that the “winds of war” are blowing.
In the wake of increased violence along the Texas-Mexico border, Texas Governor Rick Perry has asked President Obama to dispatch Predator drones to the troubled regions to be the eyes of the currently enhanced patrols. Drones were previously dispatched to Arizona.
The unmanned technology has been called a “lynchpin” of President Obama’s strategy for the continuing terror war, with present U.S. authorities ramping up their use significantly compared to the Bush administration.
The ACLU’s full complaint is available online.
How the Predator Drone works
