Targeted Killings: US memo gives broad legal rationale

Memo offers an expansive definition of self-defense and imminent attack than those given in the past by US officials,

WASHINGTON: A newly revealed Justice Department memo finds that US citizens believed to be senior al Qaeda operators may lawfully be killed, even if no intelligence shows they are actively plotting an attack.

The disclosure by American network NBC News, which posted a link to the white paper on its web page, comes amid rising controversy over US use of drone strikes to kill al Qaeda suspects in Pakistan and Yemen.

Among the most controversial were the September 2011 killings in Yemen of suspected al Qaeda operatives Anwar al Awlaki and Samir Khan, because they were US citizens who had never been charged with a crime.

The white paper offers a more expansive definition of self-defense and imminent attack than those given publicly in the past by senior US officials, who have cited “the inherent right to self-defense” in defending the attacks.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6^th, 2013.