Jeremy Scahill: Obama’s Precarious Legal Grounds for Targeted Killings

Jeremy Scahill: Obama’s Precarious Legal Grounds for Targeted Killings

Jeremy Scahill: Obama’s Precarious Legal Grounds for Targeted Killings

Yesterday, Obama laid out the justification for killing US citizen Anwar al-Awlaki. But his reasoning had very little legal grounding at all. 

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In a speech yesterday, President Obama laid out his vision for the future of the United States’ efforts to stop terrorists from attacking American citizens. He defended his use of drones and the killings of American citizens abroad who pose a threat to Americans. But, as Nation National Security Correspondent Jeremy Scahill points out, Obama provided very little legal justification for the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki. He spoke with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow yesterday about Obama’s effort (or lack thereof) to deal with terrorism legally and without killing innocent individuals.

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