A Short Note on Obama's Drone Memo

The Obama Administration through a memorandum written by Attorney General Eric Holder revealed what many have suspected for some time - that the United States has killed four U.S. citizens in drone strikes in foreign countries. What may be most revealing about the memo is that only one of the four was actually "targeted" by the U.S. government - Anwar al Awlaki. 

This has caused many to speculate that 3 out of the 4 were therefore killed "by accident."  This is likely at best a mis-characterization of what actually happened. 

Although the memo is bereft of any additional information on the circumstances surrounding these 3 strikes, it is likely that these three Americans (one of them 16 year-old Abdulraman Awlaki) were victims of what are known as "signature strikes." That is, that the targets, although unknown, fit a certain set of characteristics which this administration has determined justify death from above. 

Now, of course, the administration won't tell us (or anyone else apparently) what these characteristics are. From what investigative journalists have been able to surmise, these characteristics involve sex (male), dress, possession of firearms and other similar characteristics which the administration has determined are indicative of terrorists. Unfortunately, these are also indicative of many adult males in the areas of Afghanistan, Yemen, and Pakistan that are the regular targets of U.S. drone strikes. Therefore, these strikes often lead to the murders of innocent civilians, a statistic on which the administration is still unwilling to comment, and which fuels much of the animosity felt in the Arab world toward the United States. 

What is important to keep in mind about this revelation is that these killings of U.S. citizens without trial, charge, due process, or any judicial involvement were not accidents. They are just part of standard operating procedure for the Obama administration. Although they did not know that 3 of the 4 were American citizens when they were killed, it wouldn't have mattered if they had. This coupled with the ever expanding definition of "combatant" (now defined as any male of military age who is in a targeted area) make a large portion of the Arab world, terrorist or not, a legitimate target of deadly American military might. 

Following 9/11 we asked why it was that "they" hated us and there was no one answer. Now there is: drones. It is for this reason that this policy of extrajudicial assassination by the use of armed unmanned drones must be ended immediately and never pursued again.