The American public will not be able to evaluate the lethal drone program without far more information: The government should disclose the list of countries in which it has carried out targeted killings. It should disclose records relating to bystander casualties, so that the public can judge for itself whether the governments targeting decision are as discriminating as the government says they are. It should disclose its investigative reports into past strikes – at least into those strikes that are reported to have resulted in bystander casualties. It should also disclose the OLCs other memos relating to the targeted-killing program – including the memos that relate to targets who are not American citizens. (The court that published the drone memo, notably, also ordered the government to submit other OLC memos for review and possible disclosure.) And it should disclose the factual record that led the OLC to conclude that the extrajudicial killing of Anwar al-Awlaki – again, an American citizen who was located far from any conventional battlefield – would be lawful. But the release of the drone memo should not obscure the reality: we still know scandalously little about who the American government is killing, and why. Mondays ruling was a step forward – a gesture toward transparency – but unless it leads to much, much more from the drone files, it will be only that: a gesture.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 03:38:52 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015