PROFESSOR GUIORA’S POSITION:Amos Guiora of the University of Utah.The drone attack that killed Anwar al-Awlaki has been the subject of innumerable articles, commentaries and public discussion. No doubt, the fact that al-Awlaki was an American citizen dramatically increased the public scrutiny of the drone policy initiated by President George W. Bush in the aftermath of 9/11 and significantly enhanced by President Barack Obama. The discussion is healthy and essential in large part because drone warfare will play an increasingly important role in the future of operational counterterrorism.From the perspective of the nation-state, the benefits of targeted killing are clear: aggressive measures against identified targets with minimal, if any, risk to soldiers for the obvious reason that the killings are conducted from an unmanned aerial vehicle. But while the risks to soldiers are minimal, there are other risks that are not insignificant. Particularly, there is always the possibility of collateral damage, and there are also legitimate concerns regarding how a target is defined as legitimate.While I believe the al-Awlaki killing was lawful, I am deeply troubled by the broad rationale articulated by the Obama administration. Yes, the al-Awlaki killing reflects aggressive self-defense coupled with a respect for the obligation to minimize… Read full this story
- Woman who laced partner's pills so he could be killed by her lover has jail sentence reduced
- Liberia: 'Take Advantage of FOI Law'
- City leaders announce arrest following crash that killed a Milwaukee police officer
- East Africa: Single Currency Regime At Stake As Countries Struggle to Meet Targets
- South Africa: Muslim Community Buries 2 Men Killed in Malmesbury Mosque Attack
- Humanity’s ‘Dirty Little Secret’: Starving, Enslaving, Raping, Torturing and Killing our Children
- ‘Dumbfounding’ Ruling on Texas’ Gerrymandered Maps Steers Supreme Court Away From Race
- Kenya: State and Anti-Coal Activists Set to Clash Over Sh200bn Project
- The Right to Attention in an Age of Distraction
- Under current Indian government, religious minority communities feel increasingly vulnerable: US report
Targeted Killing Is Lawful If Conducted in Accordance with the Rule of Law have 317 words, post on www.abajournal.com at April 1, 2012. This is cached page on Vietnam Colors. If you want remove this page, please contact us.