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The Attorney General's Letter to Congress on Anwar Al-Aulaqi
In advance of the President's speech tomorrow, the Attorney General has just sent this letter to Senator Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, describing the Administration's legal basis for killing Anwar al-Aulaqi and targeting other U.S. citizens outside the United States.
The letter confirms that the U.S. specifically targeted al-Aulaqi because of "his direct personal involvement in the continued planning and execution of terrorist attacks against the U.S.
Published by The Lawfare Institute
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In advance of the President's speech tomorrow, the Attorney General has just sent this letter to Senator Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, describing the Administration's legal basis for killing Anwar al-Aulaqi and targeting other U.S. citizens outside the United States.
The letter confirms that the U.S. specifically targeted al-Aulaqi because of "his direct personal involvement in the continued planning and execution of terrorist attacks against the U.S. homeland." The letter describes al-Aulaqi's involvement in detail. The letter also states that the operation against al-Aulaqi was "undertaken consistent with Yemeni sovereignty," which presumably means that the Government of Yemen consented.
The letter also names three other U.S. citizens killed during U.S. counterterrorism operations since 2009 but who were not specifically targeted.
John B. Bellinger III is a partner in the international and national security law practices at Arnold & Porter in Washington, DC. He is also Adjunct Senior Fellow in International and National Security Law at the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as The Legal Adviser for the Department of State from 2005–2009, as Senior Associate Counsel to the President and Legal Adviser to the National Security Council at the White House from 2001–2005, and as Counsel for National Security Matters in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice from 1997–2001.
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