The Drone Memos: the documents supporting a president's power to kill

Of the documents that set out the legal and policy framework for the drone campaign, the three posted below are among the most significant. In late 2009 or early 2010, the justice department’s Office of Legal Counsel orally approved the targeting of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen. In two memos – one dated February 2010 and the other July 2010 – the Office of Legal Counsel sought to justify the authorization it had already given. An American drone strike killed Anwar al-Awlaki the following September, and another killed his 16-year-old American son two weeks later. In the spring of 2013, Barack Obama signed Presidential Policy Guidance meant to regularize the drone campaign. That document, which the American Civil Liberties Union obtained through litigation earlier this year, provides the policy framework for drone strikes carried out by the United States today.

Drone PDFs 1

Drone PDFs 2

Drone PDFs 3