Eric Holder

Holder: Executive Branch Reviews Of Targeted Killings Count As 'Due Process'

Ryan J. Reilly | March 5, 2012, 4:40PM

The Obama administration believes that executive branch reviews of evidence against suspected al-Qaeda leaders before they are targeted for killing meet the constitution's "due process" requirement and that American citizenship alone doesn't protect individuals from being killed, Attorney General Eric Holder said in a speech Monday.

"Due process and judicial process are not one and the same, particularly when it comes to national security," Holder said. "The Constitution guarantees due process, not judicial process."

Broadly outlining the guidelines the Obama administration has used to conduct lethal drone stikes overseas, Holder said the U.S. government could legally target a senior operational al Qaeda leader who is actively engaged in planning to kill Americans if the individual (1) posed an imminent threat of violence; (2) could not feasibly be captured; and (3) if the operation was conducted in line with war principles.

Such a use of lethal force against that type of individual, Holder said, wouldn't violate the executive order banning assassinations or criminal statues because such an act would be in "self defense." In remarks delivered at Northwestern University Law School in Chicago, Holder also said that targeted killings are not "assassinations," adding that the "use of that loaded term is misplaced" because assassinations are "unlawful killings" while targeted strikes are conducted lawfully.

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Drones

Holder To Lay Out Legal Framework For 'Targeted Killing'

Ryan J. Reilly | March 5, 2012, 10:05AM

Attorney General Eric Holder

Attorney General Eric Holder will on Monday afternoon deliver a speech that will lay out the legal framework for the Obama administration's use of targeted killing without referencing individual drone attacks, a source familiar with the upcoming speech told TPM.

Holder's speech at Northwestern Law School in Chicago, scheduled to be delivered at 4:30PM eastern, will also focus on the administration's approach to counterterrorism and detail the criteria for the use of reformed military commissions and Article III courts.

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Drones

The Drone That Time Forgot: Small Town's UAV Gathers Dust

Jillian Rayfield | February 15, 2012, 6:02AM

Thanks to new FAA regulations, domestic drones may soon proliferate in national airspace. But for one town, the new rules will come too late to save its drone from becoming obsolete.

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FAA

The Drone Next Door: New FAA Rules Will Increase UAVs In National Airspace

Jillian Rayfield | February 9, 2012, 6:15AM

A new set of laws will require the FAA to ease up on the rules governing domestic drone use -- and to find a way to integrate them into national airspace alongside regular aircraft.

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ACLU

ACLU Wants Info On Drone Strikes Against U.S. Citizens

Jillian Rayfield | February 6, 2012, 11:52AM

The ACLU is suing the federal government for the release of records related to the program of using unmanned drones for "targeted killing" of U.S. citizens overseas.

On Wednesday, the ACLU filed in U.S. District Court in New York to force the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, and the CIA to release records on overseas drone use, in compliance with a Freedom of Information Act request.

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Electronic Frontier Foundation

Watchdog Group Sues FAA For Records On Domestic Drone Use

Jillian Rayfield | January 11, 2012, 10:42AM

A digital rights and civil liberties group has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration, demanding that they release information on who is authorized to operate drones within the United States.

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Drones

One Nation Under The Drone: The Rising Number Of UAVs In American Skies

Jillian Rayfield | December 22, 2011, 4:45AM

A secret air show in Houston. An unmanned blimp in Utah. A sovereign citizen arrested in North Dakota.

Each of these is just one small part of the bigger story of the proliferation of unmanned aircraft use within the U.S., and each is likely to become smaller still if the FAA goes through with plans to loosen regulations governing domestic use of drones.

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Drones

ND Sheriff Used Predator Drone To Arrest 'Sovereign Citizens'

Jillian Rayfield | December 13, 2011, 11:59AM

MQ-1 Predator unmanned aircraft.

A family of "sovereign citizens" in North Dakota was arrested with the help of a predator drone, borrowed from border patrol agents by the local sheriff in an effort to avoid a standoff over some missing cows.

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Drones

Air Force's New 'All-Seeing' Drone Has Trouble ... Seeing

Eric Lach | January 25, 2011, 9:51AM

A Predator B drone.

Gorgon Stare, the new airborne surveillance system which officials say is capable of monitoring entire cities in real time, is "not operationally effective" and "not operationally suitable," according to a draft report dated Dec. 30.

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Drones

Are Unmanned Drones Coming To A Police Dept. Near You?

Eric Lach | January 24, 2011, 10:59AM

A Draganflyer X4 drone.

The Miami-Dade police department should soon be up and flying, while the Mayor of Ogden, Utah has floated a blimp idea. Still, unmanned drone use among U.S. law enforcement remains rare. That may soon change.

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Drones

Utah Mayor Hopes To Use Unmanned Blimp To Fight Crime

Eric Lach | January 19, 2011, 12:23PM

Matthew Godfrey, the mayor of Ogden, Utah, has a lofty goal. Godfrey has proposed that the town employ an unmanned blimp for surveillance and crime prevention.

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War on Terror

Cheney: 'All Well And Good' That Obama's Using Our Tactics Now (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | January 18, 2011, 9:48AM

Former Vice President Dick Cheney (R)

Former Vice President Dick Cheney said in an interview that President Obama has finally learned to use Bush administration tactics in the War on Terror.

"I think he's found it necessary to be more sympathetic to the kinds of things we did," Cheney said on the Today Show, noting Obama's use of drones in Pakistan and elsewhere.

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Drones

Miami Police Could Become First To Use Drones In A U.S. City

Eric Lach | January 7, 2011, 8:42AM

Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when drones come for you?

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Israel

Report: Saudi Arabia Captures Israeli Vulture For Being Mossad Spy

Jillian Rayfield | January 4, 2011, 12:04PM

"Cap de Bonne-Espérance" (Cape of Good Hope) by Roland Topor.

Saudi Arabian officials have reportedly arrested a vulture suspected of being a Mossad spy, after the bird, tagged by Israeli scientists, flew into Saudi territory today.

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Air Force

Air Force's New Gorgon Stare Drones Will 'See Everything'

Eric Lach | January 4, 2011, 8:27AM

In a matter of months, the Air Force hopes to start using a new airborne surveillance system called Gorgon Stare, which officials say will give soldiers the ability to monitor activity in real time across an entire city.

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Drones

Border Patrol: This Is The First Mexican Drone Crash We've Had

Rachel Slajda | December 17, 2010, 2:51PM

A spokesman for U.S. Customs & Border Patrol, the agency which found a small Mexican drone after it crashed in an El Paso neighborhood, told CNN today that it's the first time a Mexican drone has crashed on U.S. soil.

Officials confirm the drone, which crashed in residential yard Tuesday, was an unmanned, radio-controlled craft called an Orbiter Mini UAV owned by the Mexican government. Border Patrol was the first to respond to the crash, and has since turned the investigation over the the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates plane crashes.

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Obama Administration

Report: Obama Admin Shifted War Crime Rules To Protect CIA Drone Operators

Justin Elliott | May 31, 2010, 9:03AM

President Barack Obama

The Obama Administration delayed and ultimately changed the language in its revision of the military commissions manual because Bush-era language left open the interpretation that CIA drone operators would be considered war criminals, according to the New York Times.

The nugget was buried in a Friday article that hasn't gotten much attention. But it's notable as a sign of how sensitive the administration is about the legality of the CIA drone program in Pakistan.

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