Department of Justice: drone strikes on American citizens are legal because Obama and Holder said soMadison Ruppert While this might seem absurd to the point that it seems like it should be published in the Onion, it is quite unfortunately true. The Attorney Generals statement last month that the use of remotely piloted aircraft and the targeting of Anwar Al-Aulaqi were subject to exceptionally rigorous interagency legal review and determined to be lawful along with the Presidents statement that those actions were legal only support the conclusion that those actions were lawful, and certainly were not clearly established to be unconstitutional in 2011, stated a court filing signed by Paul Warner, a trial lawyer in the Department of Justices Criminal Division, according to Ryan J. Reilly of the Huffington Post. This came in response to a lawsuit, al-Aulaqi v. Panetta, filed by both the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on behalf of the estates of three of the American citizens who have been killed in U.S. drone strikes. The lawsuit alleges that the U.S. governments killing of Anwar al-Awlaki (also spelled Aulaqi), his 16-year-old son Abdulrahman al-Awlaki and Samir Khan was unconstitutional because they were not given the due process demanded by the Constitution. Of course, in the past Attorney General Eric Holder has claimed that the Obama administrations secret reviews of classified evidence count as due process and they claim that the letter from Holder to members of Congress and Obamas speech on national security didnt change their legal position. The government claims that they deserve qualified immunity because the plaintiffs failed to allege the violation of any clearly established constitutional rights. The government claims that the statements from Obama and Holder are holly consistent with Defendants showing that Anwar Al-Aulaqis due process rights were not violated. When the legal basis for the targeted killings was challenged in court previously, a federal judge ruled that the Obama administration could simply claim they had a legal basis while never explaining it. Furthermore, in the Justice Departments leaked whitepaper on the targeted killing of Americans, anything resembling due process was glaringly absent. Most astounding of all is that the Obama administration argued in their filing that the judicial branch is ill-suited to evaluate the many military, intelligence, and foreign policy considerations behind the choice to kill the American citizens. The government added that because 16-year-old Abdulrahman al-Awlaki and Khan were not specifically targeted by the government, as is their claim, the plaintiffs cannot claim that they were subjected to an unconstitutional process. The fact that the government is now claiming that the judicial branch simply cant evaluate the killing of Americans shouldnt be all that surprising given the aforementioned federal judges decision. After all, that judge didnt even read the legal memo supposedly outlining the governments legal basis for killing Americans. Id love to hear your opinion, take a look at your story tips and even your original writing if you would like to get it published. I am also available for interviews on radio, television or any other format. Please email me at Admin@EndtheLie.com Please support our work and help us start to pay contributors by doing your shopping through our Amazon link or check out some must-have products at our store. This article first appeared at End the Lie. Madison Ruppert is the Editor and Owner-Operator of the alternative news and analysis databaseEnd The Lie and has no affiliation with any NGO, political party, economic school, or other organization/cause. He is available for podcast and radio interviews. Madison also now has his own radio show on UCYTV Monday nights 7 PM 9 PM PT/10 PM 12 AM ET. Show page link here: http://UCY.TV/EndtheLie. If you have questions, comments, or corrections feel free to contact him at admin@EndtheLie.com linkwithin_text=Related Articles: 