Obama Justifies Use of Drone Strikes

Before an audience at the National Defence University on Thursday, US President Barack Obama defended the controversial use of drones by the country as an important weapon in the war against terrorism.

In a speech where he was expected to address the audience on a secretive program run by the government, he explained that he is haunted by those civilians who were caught in the attacks and tried to assure listeners that there must be “near certainty” that no more civilians will be killed in such strikes in a near future.

“We are at war with an organization that right now would kill as many Americans as they could if we did not stop them first,” he said. “So, this is just a war – a war waged proportionally, in last resort , and in self-defense.”

He added, “So America is at crossroads. We must define the nature and the scope of the struggle, or else it will define us.”

The speech also addressed the issue of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay which the Obama Administration had promised Americans it would shut down in its 2008 campaign promise

“When I ran for president the first time, John McCain supported closing Gitmo. No person has ever escaped from one of our super-max or military prisons in the United States,” Obama said.

“Our courts have convicted hundreds of people for terrorism-related offences, including some who are more dangerous than most Gitmo detainees….there is no justification beyond politics for Congress to prevent us from closing a facility that should never have been opened,” the president added.

While been interrupted by a woman protesting the use of drones and the current situation with the hunger strike at the prison, he pressed further, saying that he would lift a moratorium on prisoner transfers to Yemen and ensure the complete shutdown of the prison, urging Congress not to interrupt his efforts to ensure that the prisoners are transferred to American secured maximum prisons.

Although, a good number of lawmakers are of the opinion that the US authorities support for drone strikes be limited, the President has promised to share with the general public concerning matters about the drone strikes.

His speech came just a day after a letter was released by the attorney-general on behalf of the Obama Administration, revealing for the first time that four American citizens had been killed in covert drone strikes oversea.

It coincides with the signing of new “presidential policy guidance” on when drone strikes can be used, according to the White House.

Attorney-General Admits Deaths of Four Americans in Drone Attacks

The Obama Administration has formally admitted killing four of its citizens in authorized drone attacks in Yemen and Pakistan since 2009, according to a letter from US attorney-general Eric Holder.

The letter, which was addressed to congressional leaders on Wednesday, named three US citizens – Samir Khan, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, and his father, Anwar al-Awlaki, the intended target of a drone strike in September 2011.

However, the fourth citizen, Jude Kenan Mohammed, was regarded as a victim of America’s efforts to combat terrorism through drone strikes.

The letter reads, “Since 2009, the United States, in the conduct of US counterterrorism operations against al-Qaeda and its associated forces outside of areas of active hostilities, has specifically targeted and killed one US citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki.”

“The decision to target Anwar al-Awlaki was lawful, it was considered and it was just,” he wrote.

“The United States is further aware of three other US citizens who have been killed in such US counterterrorism operations over that same time period,” Holder added, after which he named three citizens.

Holder refused to explain why Jude Mohammed and 16-year-old Abdulrahman al-Awlaki were killed. “These individuals were not specifically targeted by the United States,” he said.

“The administration is determined to continue these extensive outreach efforts to communicate with the American people. To this end, the president has directed me to disclose certain information that until now has been properly classified. You and other members of your committee have on numerous occasions expressed a particular interest in the administration’s use of lethal force against US citizens.”

“In light of this face, I am writing to disclose to you certain information about the number of US citizens who have been killed by US counterterrorism operations outside of areas of active hostilities.”

The letter came just a day before US President Barack Obama was scheduled to deliver a speech on the use of drones, and was addressed to Senator Patrick Leahy and the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Apparently, it was released with the purpose of defending the Obama Administration over allegations that it wasn’t holding up to its promise of utmost transparency as Obama’s campaign plans has stated.

Only a few months earlier, Senator Rand Paul led a marathon filibuster in an effort to criticize the drone program of the CIA, demanding the administration stand before lawmakers and justify the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in the execution of suspected enemies of the state while turning a blind eye to the innocent civilians killed in the process.