Under Pressure, Holder Adds Tentative No to Killing Citizens on U.S. SoilJoe Wright So far there has been virtually unanimous agreement over the lack of transparency with the targeted killing program as outlined in the so-called targeted killing playbook,by John Brennan. Sen. Mike Lee R-Utah urged the release to the oversight committee of the full Office of Legal Counsel Memorandum on targeted killings that has so far beenkept secret and upheldby a Manhattan federal judge. Despite promises to release all information, so far there only exists a timeline of 20 instancesbeginning in February of 2011 that members of Congress have asked for the memo without success. Once again, pressure has been applied, but nothing has been forthcoming except for more deflection from Holder and some new disturbing statements. Perhaps most disturbing is when the subject of judicial review came up. Holder said that he, like Brennan, thinks there could be a place for that, but is worried that it would interfere with operations. Essentially, this is reinforcing the notion that intelligence agencies and the president can work hand-in-hand behind the scenes, away from Congressional review to decide who dies anywhere in the world. It is an incredibly arrogant and dismissive position to take toward the legal representatives of the American people. As noted by theemptywheel.net, the delays we have seen regarding the full legal explanation is that they very well could still be working on a justification: However, when pressed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), Holder did seem to indicate I thought I was saying no to the question of constitutionally killing Americans with drones domestically. Yet, it is worth noting that, similar to his written response to Rand Paul, Holder made it clear he was responding to a hypothetical. The central concern can be found here the Constitution is written clearly and unambiguously so that clear and unambiguous answers can be given to legal questions. This appears to not be understood at the DoJ. Much more clarification is needed from an entire administration that has been conducting itself with far less transparency than promised, especially since what was put in writing to Sen. Paul was a clear yes to assassinating Americans inside the United States. selfnewss from CODEPINK closed the proceedings by pointing out some real facts about drone strikes killing innocent civilians in far greater numbers than those targeted as militants. These were facts documented in the report Living Under Drones which paints a picture that can only be described as stated-sponsored terrorism: So far this terror campaign has been waged overseas, and on its own is an indictment against U.S. military tactics and adherence to domestic and international law. As public backlash increases across the political spectrum, our nations chief legal officer must be called to fully account to Congress and the American people about what constitutes the undermining of our legal foundation as a nation, as well as a real national security threat. Here is the main segment in question: Full proceedings can be found at C-SPAN HEREat the video post in right-hand column of the C-SPAN website. Holders answers to Sen. Cruz can be found at 57:20 1:01:20. Coming to America? Full legal analysis of drone strikes can be found here: Read other articles by Joe Wright Here: 