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US justifies drone strikes for first time
AFP on Yahoo ^ | 3/27/10 | Dan De Luce

Posted on 03/27/2010 8:48:16 AM PDT by NormsRevenge

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US government for the first time has offered a legal justification of its drone strikes against Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, citing the right to "self-defense" under international law.

The CIA attacks by unmanned aircraft in Pakistan, Somalia and elsewhere have sharply increased under President Barack Obama's administration but have remained shrouded in secrecy, with some human rights groups charging the bombing raids amount to illegal assassinations.

Broaching a subject that has been off-limits for official comment, State Department legal advisor Harold Koh laid out the legal argument for the strikes in a speech late Thursday, referring to "targeting" of Al-Qaeda and Taliban figures without mentioning Pakistan or where the raids are carried out.

The United States was in "an armed conflict" with Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and its affiliates as a result of the September 11 attacks, Koh said, "and may use force consistent with its inherent right to self-defense under international law."

...

"What I can say is that it is the considered view of this administration -- and it has certainly been my experience during my time as legal adviser -- that US targeting practices, including lethal operations conducted with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, comply with all applicable law, including the laws of war."

...

...

Under US law, "the use of lawful weapons systems -- consistent with the applicable laws of war -- for precision targeting of specific high-level belligerent leaders when acting in self-defense or during an armed conflict is not unlawful, and hence does not constitute 'assassination,'" he said.

He also argued that the US government was not obliged to offer legal rights to the militant figures targeted in the strikes as the United States was at war and acting in self-defense.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: drone; fata; firsttime; justifies; nwfp; pakistan; strikes; uav; wot
Koh, a fierce critic of former president George W. Bush's policies before he took his post,

--

A battlefield convert?

1 posted on 03/27/2010 8:48:16 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
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File picture shows supporters of Pakistan's fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami party during a protest against US drone strikes in Pakistan. The US government for the first time has offered a legal justification of its drone strikes against Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, citing the right to "self-defense" under international law. (AFP/File/Tariq Mahmood)


2 posted on 03/27/2010 8:49:45 AM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Godspeed .. Monthly Donor Onboard .. Chuck DeVore - CA Senator. Believe.)
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Map of Pakistan locating Miranshah, where at least six militants were killed
in a US drone attack on Tuesday (AFPgraphic/Martin Megino/Gal/Js)


3 posted on 03/27/2010 8:51:13 AM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Godspeed .. Monthly Donor Onboard .. Chuck DeVore - CA Senator. Believe.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Hear something? I think it is the sound of Huffington Post and DU posters heads exploding...lol. Someone should post this article over there.


4 posted on 03/27/2010 8:52:24 AM PDT by penelopesire ("The only CHANGE you will get with the Democrats is the CHANGE left in your pocket")
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To: penelopesire

Well, a helluva note, eh?

Let’s have some rock’n’roll to soothe their splintered factions..

the first time

Foreigner Concert Live 2007 Feels Like The First Time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gswX45H6cjY


5 posted on 03/27/2010 8:55:18 AM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Godspeed .. Monthly Donor Onboard .. Chuck DeVore - CA Senator. Believe.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Predator International Omnipresence Precedent:

Philadelphia Daily News (PA) - October 8, 2003 - 30 NATIONAL

Sharon vows to attack enemies on heels of raid on Syria
Bolstered by U.S. support for Israel’s bombing raid in Syria, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday his nation won’t hesitate to attack its enemies anywhere - heightening concerns it may widen the Palestinian conflict by again striking countries it accuses of harboring terrorists. Since the attack on the reputed Islamic Jihad training camp in Syria on Sunday, there already has been shooting and mortar fire across the border between Israel and Lebanon,...


6 posted on 03/27/2010 8:55:40 AM PDT by bunkerhill7
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To: NormsRevenge
United States` right to attack drinking establishments overseas:

JPJ precedent for international strikes on barrooms and taverns, pubs, etc.

John Paul Jones attacks, April 23, 1778, just after midnight, Whitehaven, England but the brew slowed `em down...

"The wind having shifted, Ranger recrossed the Irish Sea to make another attempt at raiding Whitehaven. Jones led the assault with two boats of fifteen men on April 23, 1778, just after midnight, hoping to set fire to and sink all Whitehaven’s ships anchored in..some of the party were therefore sent to raid a public house on the quayside, but the temptation to stop for a quick drink led to a further delay. " -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Jones

7 posted on 03/27/2010 9:14:26 AM PDT by bunkerhill7
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To: NormsRevenge

LOL! Isn’t it interesting that the Obama Administration once again is making the same argument that the Bush Administration made....yet it is OK this time with the sociopathic media.


8 posted on 03/27/2010 9:32:19 AM PDT by penelopesire ("The only CHANGE you will get with the Democrats is the CHANGE left in your pocket")
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To: NormsRevenge
I am kind of surprised he didn't call them off. This is one issue that I support his administration on.... unless, he has some weird ulterior motive that we haven't discovered.
9 posted on 03/27/2010 9:41:19 AM PDT by FreeAtlanta (Hey Barack Hubris Obama, $10 is all it would take, why spend millions to cover it up?)
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To: NormsRevenge

Target opportunity.


10 posted on 03/27/2010 9:43:16 AM PDT by onedoug
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To: NormsRevenge
This is not going to end well.

While they came out and offered a legal justification, they have at the same time opened themselves to debate and legal action, and various new levels of oversight and rules of engagement imposed for political reasons.

11 posted on 03/27/2010 9:47:36 AM PDT by r9etb
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To: NormsRevenge

Dang, talk about a target of opportunity!


12 posted on 03/27/2010 10:31:20 AM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Not for nothing but......the drones are doing a fantastic job of destroying the enemy, and sometimes innocents. Yet our soldiers on the ground can’t shoot the enemy until it appears they will be or have been fired on and if we take them into custody they must be mirandized and God help the soldier that kills or injures an innocent civilian.


13 posted on 03/27/2010 10:33:33 AM PDT by kenmcg (uicl)
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To: NormsRevenge
Another strike.

US strike kills 4 in North Waziristan

14 posted on 03/27/2010 5:43:29 PM PDT by csvset
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To: NormsRevenge; Jet Jaguar; NorwegianViking; ExTexasRedhead; HollyB; FromLori; ...

The list, ping


15 posted on 03/27/2010 9:33:45 PM PDT by Nachum (The complete Obama list at www.nachumlist.com)
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