One area where I fully support the Obama administration is the increased use of drones to conduct targeted killings in Afghanistan & Pakistan. There have been questions raised as to whether these constitute extra-judicial killings or violate the Executive Orders banning assassinations. In addition whether they must be done as part of and actual armed conflict or are they allowable in the course of legitimate self defense. Now an Obama administration official has offered a public statement about what they believe the law says about the targeted killings of terrorists and others that seems to directly favor our right to do so on self defense. Harold Koh is an unlikely source for a powerful justification of the sovereign power of a nation state. He is a well-known trans-nationalist, but his statements in support of our right to conduct targeted killings during armed conflict and also outside of it in legitimate self defense are welcome indeed.
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Posted
Mar 29 2010, 01:49 AM
by
BLACKFIVE