The White House Tuesday found itself under
growing fire for its policy of killing Americans suspected of
operating as terrorists in foreign countries just as its chief
counterterrorism expert faces confirmation hearings to become
director of the CIA.
John Brennan, who is US President Barack Obama's counterterrorism
advisor, is to go before a Senate panel on Thursday for his first
grilling. Brennan is the chief architect of the use of armed drones
to target al-Qaeda operatives around the world.
The issue of targetted killings against US citizens abroad stirred
alive Monday with the release of a so-called White Paper in which the
Department of Justice outlined the policy, which is directed at US
citizens suspected of having high level roles in al-Qaeda. The paper,
which was not classified, was obtained by NBC news on Monday.
White House spokesman Jay Carney spent most of the daily press
briefing defending the policy, saying that Congress had authorized
"all necessary military force" in the fight against al-Qaeda.
"These strikes are legal, they are ethical and they are wise," he
said.
The policy in fact became public knowledge in April 2010, when the
White House placed the first known US citizen, Muslim cleric Anwar
al-Awlaki, on a kill list to be carried out by the CIA. The cleric
was killed in September 2011 in Yemen by a drone strike, followed by
another lethal attack on his 16-year-old son two weeks later.
Attorney General Eric Holder in March 2012 explained the policy in
a public speech, saying such action required approval from the top
levels of government and was "among the gravest that government
leaders can face."
Publication of the document this week renewed focus on the policy,
provoking criticism from several sides. Guardian newspaper columnist
Glen Greenwald called the policy "Orwellian" and said it represented
"the most extremist power any political leader can assert."
A group of 11 senators - three Republicans and eight Democrats -
have sent a letter to President Barack Obama demanding access to
secret legal memos outlining the justification for targeting US
citizens, according to Washington newspaper reports. The White Paper
did not reveal the legal memos.
In a related development on Tuesday, a New York-based human rights
organization threw new light on the CIA's rendition and black site
torture programme, naming 54 countries that have either hosted secret
prisons or helped in the transport or torture of terrorist suspects.
The Open Society Justice Initiative also detailed in the report
the cases of 136 known victims who were secretly held, saying that
the "responsibility for the abuses lies not only with the United
States but with dozens of foreign governments that were complicit."
The sites and rendition programme were set up under former
president George W Bush for the CIA to interrogate - often using
torture - terrorist suspects captured abroad. While Obama ordered the
sites closed and forbade torture, his administration has not
prosecuted offenders from the Bush administration, which has drawn
criticism from human rights advocates.
While some of the sites have been disclosed since the programme
started, the report "Globalizing Torture: CIA Secret Detention and
Extraordinary Rendition" offers the first comprehensive overview.
The programme began after the September 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks on the United States and, according to the report, continues
in some form or other even today. The term "extraordinary rendition"
refers to the transport of a suspect from one country to another
under the radar of international justice systems.
The 54 governments identified in the report as either hosting a
black site or helping to transport suspects include: Afghanistan,
Albania, Algeria, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech
Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, Gambia,
Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran,
Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Libya, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malawi,
Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden,
Syria, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom,
Uzbekistan, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.
