The Drone Memos
Targeted Killing, Secrecy and the Law
Published on 19. July 2019
192 pages
978-1-62097-260-1 (ISBN)
Description
"A trenchant summation" and analysis of the legal rationales behind the US drone policy of targeted killing of suspected terrorists, including US citizens (
Publishers Weekly, starred review).
In the long response to 9/11, the US government initiated a deeply controversial policy of "targeted killing"-the extrajudicial execution of suspected terrorists and militants, typically via drones. A remarkable effort was made to legitimize this practice; one that most human rights experts agree is illegal and that the United States has historically condemned.
In The Drone Memos, civil rights lawyer Jameel Jaffer presents and assesses the legal memos and policy documents that enabled the Obama administration to put this program into action. In a lucid and provocative introduction, Jaffer, who led the ACLU legal team that secured the release of many of the documents, evaluates the drone memos in light of domestic and international law. He connects the documents' legal abstractions to the real-world violence they allow, and makes the case that we are trading core principles of democracy and human rights for the illusion of security.
"A careful study of a secretive counterterrorism infrastructure capable of sustaining endless, orderless war, this book is profoundly necessary." -Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation
In the long response to 9/11, the US government initiated a deeply controversial policy of "targeted killing"-the extrajudicial execution of suspected terrorists and militants, typically via drones. A remarkable effort was made to legitimize this practice; one that most human rights experts agree is illegal and that the United States has historically condemned.
In The Drone Memos, civil rights lawyer Jameel Jaffer presents and assesses the legal memos and policy documents that enabled the Obama administration to put this program into action. In a lucid and provocative introduction, Jaffer, who led the ACLU legal team that secured the release of many of the documents, evaluates the drone memos in light of domestic and international law. He connects the documents' legal abstractions to the real-world violence they allow, and makes the case that we are trading core principles of democracy and human rights for the illusion of security.
"A careful study of a secretive counterterrorism infrastructure capable of sustaining endless, orderless war, this book is profoundly necessary." -Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation
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12/2016
The New Press
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Person
Jameel Jaffer is a deputy legal director of the ACLU. He led the ACLU legal team that sued for the release of the drone memos. He has written about the drone program for the New York Times, The Guardian, and the Harvard Law Review Forum among others and was listed by Foreign Policy magazine as a "Top 100 Global Thinker." He has appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show, All In with Chris Hayes, and Democracy Now! and speaks regularly at venues including the American Bar Association's annual convening, law schools, and ACLU affiliates across the country. He is the co-author of Administration of Torture and lives in Brooklyn.
Content
- Intro
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Introduction
- One: Chekhov's Drones
- Two: "The Tight Leash"
- Three: Secrecy, and the Fiction of It
- Four: Law Without Limits
- Editor's Note
- The Documents
- 1. February 19, 2010, Office of Legal Counsel Memorandum, "Lethal Operation Against Shaykh Anwar Aulaqi"
- 2. July 16, 2010, Office of Legal Counsel Memorandum, "Applicability of Federal Criminal Laws and the Constitution to Contemplated Lethal Operations Against Shaykh Anwar al-Aulaqi"
- 3. March 25, 2010, Remarks of Harold Hongju Koh at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law, "The Obama Administration and International Law"
- 4. May 25, 2011, Justice Department White Paper, "Legality of a Lethal Operation by the Central Intelligence Agency Against a U.S. Citizen"
- 5. September 16, 2011, Remarks of John O. Brennan at Harvard Law School, "Strengthening Our Security by Adhering to Our Values and Laws"
- 6. November 8, 2011, Justice Department White Paper, "Lawfulness of a Lethal Operation Directed Against a U.S. Citizen Who Is a Senior Operational Leader of Al-Qa'ida or an Associated Force"
- 7. March 5, 2012, Remarks of Eric Holder at Northwestern University School of Law
- 8. April 30, 2012, Remarks of John O. Brennan at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, "The Ethics and Efficacy of the President's Counterterrorism Strategy"
- 9. May 22, 2013, Letter from Attorney General Eric Holder to Hon. Patrick J. Leahy
- 10. May 22, 2013, Presidential Policy Guidance, "Procedures for Approving Direct Action Against Terrorist Targets Located Outside the United States and Areas of Active Hostilities"
- 11. May 23, 2013, Fact Sheet, "U.S. Policy Standards and Procedures for the Use of Force in Counterterrorism Operations Outside the United States and Areas of Active Hostilities"
- 12. May 23, 2013, Remarks of President Barack Obama at the National Defense University
- 13. April 1, 2016, Remarks of Brian J. Egan at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law, "International Law, Legal Diplomacy, and the Counter-ISIL Campaign"
- 14. July 1, 2016, Fact Sheet, "Executive Order on the U.S. Policy on Pre & Post-Strike Measures to Address Civilian Casualties in the U.S. Operations Involving the Use of Force & the DNI Release of Aggregate Data on Strikes Outside Areas of Active Hostilities"
- 15. July 1, 2016, Report of the Director of National Intelligence, "Summary of Information Regarding U.S. Counterterrorism Strikes Outside Areas of Active Hostilities"
- 16. July 1, 2016, Executive Order, "United States Policy on Pre- and Post-Strike Measures to Address Civilian Casualties in U.S. Operations Involving the Use of Force"
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- About the Editor
