Use Of UAVs Figures Prominently In The Operations

The ACLU says on its blog that it has filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) seeking information on a "targeted killing program" which relies heavily on the use of UAVs. The ACLU says that while its suit overlaps one filed by the New York Times, they are also seeking "the government’s evidentiary basis for strikes that killed three Americans in Yemen in the fall of 2011."

According to the ACLU blog, the suit stems from an incident last September in which two U.S. born Taliban were killed in a UAV attack in Yemen. A third U.S.-born person was killed in a separate attack a week later. "The administration has not adequately explained the legal basis for these strikes, and it has not explained the factual basis, either," the organization says.

The ACLU says that it sent FOIA requests shortly after it learned of the attacks, and was told that it was requesting records that "the CIA can neither confirm or deny" even exist.

The ACLU notes that President Obama has defended the program as recently as last week in an internet interview. It says that the administration's additude is "self serving," and that if it going to release bits of information related to the program for political or other purpuses, it can't continue to deny that such programs exist. "The public has a right to know the evidence and legal basis for the deliberate targeted killing of U.S. citizens," the organization says.

FMI: www.acul.org