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February 24, 2012

Pentagon Lawyer Defends Killing of U.S. Citizens Abroad 
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A top Pentagon lawyer has openly declared the administration's claim to
free reign on assassinating U.S. citizens who join al-Qaeda without
court review. In a speech at Yale Law School, Jeh Johnson, the Pentagon
general counsel, said courts should have no role in reviewing
presidential decisions on who can be targeted. Johnson said:
"Belligerents who also happen to be U.S. citizens do not enjoy immunity
where non-citizen belligerents are valid military objectives." Johnson
appeared to be referring to the case of U.S.-born Anwar al-Awlaki, who
was killed in a U.S. drone strike last year. Al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son
was also killed two weeks later.



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