Skip navigation
CODEPINK
    • ACTION ALERT: CODEPINK Statement on White Supremacist Attack on the Capitol, January 6 2021
    • ACTION ALERT: CODEPINK in the News Round-Up: January 2021
  • Codepink Store
  • Donate
  • Get Involved
  • Act Now
    Action Calendar Action Alerts Follow CODEPINK Volunteer: Be a Peacemaker CODEPINK Store Donate to CODEPINK Recommended Movies Recommended Books
  • Issues & Campaigns
  • Pink Updates (current)
    Last Week at CODEPINK Action Alerts PINK Tank ~ Blog CODEPINK Webinars Press Releases In the News Blogs from Iran Local Peace Economy Daily
  • About
    Founders & Staff What is CODEPINK Jobs and Internships Our Allies CODEPINK Advisory Board Contact Us
  • 50 Iran Experts
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Email
  • WhatsApp
  1. HOME
  2. PINK TANK ~ BLOG

CODEPINK's Response to U.S. Court Release of Obama Administration's 'Drone Memo'

Posted by CODEPINK Staff


By Tyra Walker


Although CODEPINK acknowledges the motion towards some semblance of transparency with the release of the 2010 Memorandum outlining the Department of Justice’s legal reasoning for the assassination of US citizen Anwar al-Awlaki, we conclude that the Memorandum falls short of delivering the need for accountability required for addressing unjust action which lethally targets American citizens abroad.


The Memorandum, which is authored by David Barron, former chief of the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel, echoes Attorney General Eric Holder’s troubling legal distinction between “due process” and “judicial process” for American citizens. This equivocation represents an abominable misconstruance of a centuries-old right that has, until now, been protected by the U.S. Constitution. With a legal Memorandum that asserts that “due process analysis need not blink at [the] realities [of combat]”, we stand in fear of the future fundamental rights which will undoubtedly be threatened by the whims of military advisors and government officials who are encouraged not to think twice about lethal decisions under the guise of “national security”.


The sheer publication of the Memorandum is not something that is lost on us. Despite the memo being heavily redacted, as ACLU Deputy Legal Director Jameel Jaffer states, “...the publication of the [ ] memo [is] a significant milestone and certainly one of the most significant transparency-related developments since the administration's release of the torture memos in 2009,” and that it “represents an overdue but nonetheless crucial step towards transparency.”


However, we also stand in solidarity with organizations like the Center for Constitutional Rights, whose Senior Attorney Pardiss Kebriaei asserts that the memorandum reinforces that "the government's drone killing program is built on gross distortions of law."


ACLU Jameel Jaffer’s statement in response to the drone memo, too, accurately highlights the issues presented by the Memorandum’s unredacted content. He states, “Once [the] facts are assumed, the memo’s ultimate conclusion… follows inevitably. How could it not? No government would disclaim the authority to use force as a last resort against a serious threat that was truly imminent. But… what assurance do we have that the facts the memo accepts as true were actually true?” After further analysis, Jaffer ultimately concludes that “The entire memo rests atop a foundation whose solidity we can’t know.”


Until we are able reclaim the Constitutional protections of due process, stop justifications based on the deliberate misrepresentation of concepts like “imminent threat”, and demand, not simply transparency, but accountability for actions that violate the protections of the Constitution and of Human Rights, we will continue to live with bated breath for the next American citizen (or non-American citizen) to be unjustly targeted and killed.

Continue Reading

2020 Parliamentary Elections in Venezuela

The Trump Administration’s Parting Outrage Against Cuba

There Is No Future in War: Youth Rise Up, a Manifesto

Divestment Victory! Ritu Khanna Now Has No Investments in Weapons Companies

Show all posts

Be the first to comment


Sign in with

Facebook Twitter


Or sign in with email

    or Create an account


    Create an account

      or Sign in with email
      Please check your e-mail for a link to activate your account.
      CODEPINK - Women for Peace
      seach
      • ACT NOW
      • ACTION CALENDAR
      • ACTION ALERTS
      • FOLLOW CODEPINK
      • VOLUNTEER: BE A PEACEMAKER
      • CODEPINK STORE
      • DONATE TO CODEPINK
      • RECOMMENDED MOVIES
      • RECOMMENDED BOOKS
      • ISSUES & CAMPAIGNS
      • DIVEST FROM THE WAR MACHINE
      • PALESTINE
      • ACCOUNTABILITY: EXPOSING WAR CRIMES
      • IRAN
      • SAUDI ARABIA
      • PRESIDENT FOR PEACE
      • LATIN AMERICA
      • THE PEACE COLLECTIVE
      • THE FEMINIST FOREIGN POLICY PROJECT
      • PINK UPDATES
      • LAST WEEK AT CODEPINK
      • ACTION ALERTS
      • PINK TANK ~ BLOG
      • CODEPINK WEBINARS
      • PRESS RELEASES
      • IN THE NEWS
      • BLOGS FROM IRAN
      • LOCAL PEACE ECONOMY DAILY
      • ABOUT
      • FOUNDERS & STAFF
      • WHAT IS CODEPINK
      • JOBS AND INTERNSHIPS
      • OUR ALLIES
      • CODEPINK ADVISORY BOARD
      • CONTACT US
      • 50 IRAN EXPERTS
      © 2021 CODEPINK | All Rights Reserved | Created by Code Nation on NationBuilder