The Obama Administration confirmed for the first time on Wednesday that the United States killed four American citizens during drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen, the New York Times reported.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. sent out a letter to Congressional leaders that detailed the administration's murder of Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim religious figure who died in Yemen during a drone strike in September of 2011.
Up until this point, the American government has never acknowledged its responsibility for Alwaki's death, despite extensive coverage on the matter.
The letter went on to say that the U.S. also killed three other Americans: Sammir Khan, Awlaki's son Abdulrahman and Jude Mohammed. Khan and Abdulrahman were killed during the drone strike in Yemen, while Mohammed died in Pakistan.
Mohammed, of Raleigh, North Carolina, was killed in November of 2011 in South Waziristan, located in Pakistan's tribal area.
Holder's letter focused on Awlaki's death especially, saying that Awlaki had planned attacks against the United States that weren't just empty threats. Holder stated that Awlaki not only plotted to bomb a Detroit-bound airplane in December 2009, but also "played a key role" during an October 2010 plan to blow up US-bound cargo plans.
"Moreover, information that remains classified to protect sensitive sources and methods evidences Awlaki's involvement in the planning of numerous other plots against U.S. and Western interests and makes clear he was continuing to plot attacks when he was killed," Holder said. "The decision to target Anwar al-Awlaki was lawful, it was considered, and it was just."
This news comes one day before President Obama is scheduled to deliver a speech on national security.
Amnesty International official Zeke Johnson told the New York Times that the Obama administration thinks any person on any ground who threatens the United States is fair game.
"The Obama administration continues to claim authority to kill virtually anyone anywhere in the world under the 'global battlefield' legal theory and a radical redefinition of the concept of imminence," Johnson said. "President Obama should reject these concepts in his speech tomorrow and commit to upholding human rights, not just in word, but in deed."
