U.S. Likely to Expand Drone Attacks to Nigeria Says Leon Panetta, U.S. Defence Secretary.

(CNN) -- Four years ago, John Brennan withdrew from consideration for C.I.A. director because of his leadership role there while serious human rights violations were occurring, including waterboarding and secret detention. Mr. Brennan has said he regrets these practices. Yet he moved from the CIA to the White House, where he began to support a practice many consider worse than torture: targeted killing.

Brennan has been a champion and defender of attacks by C.I.A. drones that have killed thousands of people, including hundreds of children, far from any battlefield. These killings have occurred in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has recently said the killing is likely to expand to Libya, Mali and Nigeria.

Panetta, Brennan and others in the Obama administration defended these lawless killings the same way the Bush administration justified the unlawful treatment of detainees. Officials in both administrations have sought to win public support and overcome opposition by repeatedly asserting that what they are doing is effective and lawful. The tactical parallels are striking.

To create an illusion of legality, both administrations coined new labels for unlawful practices. President Bush's people coined the term "enhanced interrogation methods" to describe torture, and are still asserting that waterboarding is not torture but an effective, necessary tool to keep the country safe.

Brennan unveiled the phrase "hot battlefield" in a speech at Harvard Law in September 2011. A "hot battlefield" is the type found in traditional armed conflicts, where enemy fighters are killed without warning and it is permissible to also kill civilians, as long as their deaths are unintentional collateral damage and not disproportionate to the military objective.

The CIA is killing civilians away from "hot battlefields," but according to Brennan, there are other types of battlefields that are not "hot" but nevertheless lawful places to intentionally kill targets and unintentionally those nearby.


The parallels between the two administrations do not end with fabricated terminology. Lawyers in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel in both administrations have written secret memos apparently analyzing the legality of these troubling practices. After the memos were written, waterboarding continued during the Bush administration. President Obama finally ended it with an executive order signed within days of his first inauguration. Guantanamo, however, stayed open, and targeted killing continued. We can safely assume that the memos conclude the United States may lawfully carry out such practices.

It is surprising to me that anyone feels the need to actually see these secret memos. International law clearly makes waterboarding, secret detention and targeted killing away from battlefields unlawful. The fact these practices have continued after the writing of the memos demonstrates the analysis is window dressing.

The New York Times and the American Civil Liberties Union, among others, have committed significant resources to obtaining the memos on targeted killing. It would, of course, be interesting to compare the specious arguments and omissions that must characterize these memos with those released by the Bush administration on interrogation and detention. Some citizens might actually need to see the memos to finally demand an end to the practice.

The greater importance of the secret memos does not concern what they contain, but the fact our democratic government believes legal analysis can be secret -- that how the government understands the law that regulates its conduct need not be made public. The judge in a recent case who ruled the memos might lawfully remain secret has confused the facts of a particular case with the law. Facts about particular operations can be kept secret, but not the law on which such operations are based. If the police seek a warrant, for example, in some cases the identity of a particular person sought under the warrant may be kept confidential. The law mandating the need for the warrant is public.

Game playing with the law does not amount to effective counter-terrorism strategy. Brennan admitted as much in his Harvard speech:

"I've developed a profound appreciation for the role that our values, especially the rule of law, play in keeping our country safe," he said. "It's an appreciation, of course, understood by President Obama. ... That is what I want to talk about this evening: how we have strengthened, and continue to strengthen, our national security by adhering to our values and our laws."

The CIA needs someone who will do what Brennan says, not what he does.

source http://www.naijapundit.com/news/u-s-likely-to-expand-drone-attacks-to-nigeria-says-leon-panetta-u-s-defence-secretary

Good! They should hurry up.

*Dancing Alingo*....The drones are commin!!!...Finally!!!!

Hope it end up in North

ba7man: *Dancing Alingo*....The drones are commin!!!...Finally!!!!

ba7man am very sorry to say this; it seems you have strong unaffinity for reading, because if you had some levels of sane simple human thinking faculty then you would understand that the article above is anticipating killing of civillians!(which includes you) And diverging 4rm military target and objectives principles to employing all possibles "modus operandi" to eliminate targets.
SAY NO TO THE DRONES! SAY NO TO KILLING OF INNOCENT NIGERIANS!! SAY NO TO DRONE STRIKES!!! United we stand, divided we fall. God bless nigeria

Drone ke! Are we in afgan?

fkaz: Drone ke! Are we in afgan?

Boko haram and their sponsors

Brennan has been a champion and defender of attacks by C.I.A. drones that have killed thousands of people, including hundreds of children, far from any battlefield. These killings have occurred in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has recently said the killing is likely to expand to Libya, Mali and Nigeria.

I can't see why anybody in Nigeria should wish for the above on Nigerians

As usual, foreign solution to solve domestic problem.

PROUD-IGBO:
Good! They should hurry up.

Just look at a mentality of a blackman, calling up a foreign government to indiscriminately use drone on your fellow countrymen.

.

Hmmmmmm , when the evil doer are been dealth with it will surely affect the innocent once. GOD save we country

So they want to turn Nigeria to middle east right?
We should kick against it,because those drones will do more harm than good

Please don't. If any1 actually finks US is bring dis drones cos of their good faith in nigeria den I fink mumuizm full ur family. Its will jt lead to more genocide to this country. Any country US go into neva come out d same jt ask Afghanistan and the rest.

Make una see my head ooo... I no follow them oooo

e be like say na now we need to divide this country

hahahahaaaa

Drone in Nigeria? Hell no! I think I'm going to start building my hatch.

Hey, don't ask me what a hatch is, I can't tell for security reasons.

And Jona is just watching,hands on his cheek,clueless on what to do...while the drones are about to make Nigeria indeed the saddest place to live in.

we dont need this pls we reject it in Jesus name.

executinal: Hope it end up in North

Are u dat heartless?

[size=20pt]Fire on the mountain, Shekau run run run run! [/size]

Seriously, a drone strike will aggravate the situation. The Jihadists will engage in a media war alleging all sorts of "crusade" against Muslims etc. And seeing what common eclipse of the sun made jobless Muslim youths to do in Maiduguri, the worse to come. Also, that calls to question Nigeria's sovereignty.

I would rather they share the intelligence and let the Nigerian security services do the ground work. At least thats what happens all over the world - sharing intel.

One thing you guys should understand is the fact that U.S does not do anything for any country without getting something or gaining something in return, I just hope it will not be heinous act. Nigeria is blessed.
God gave us everything( out of 350 mineral resources Nigeria has about 180) but Nigeria lack one thing which is "Leadership". Think about it guys.

Ah! I fear for the Innocents. FG of Nigeria, this is a wake up call.
US, we don't need your drones.

The US has no right to abuse our sovereignty with their drones except of course our low esteemed odechukwu signs our rights away. Drones are known for killing everything that moves near their primary target so those happy about this should have a rethink. Imagine a target hiding near your mother's house. Ask the Pakistanis about their regrets in signing an agreement to allow US drones.

Africa can solve its problems itself and we do not need those that caused the problems in the first place to come to our aid. All we need to eliminate the Boko-Haram problem is a strong, honest and purposeful leader willing to take the bull by the horns, not minding whose ox is gored. Not the laggard we have in Aso Rock presently.

Nigerians! Are you tired of Boko-Haram? If yes,then vote with your heads and not your hearts.Vote out these "nest of killers" from your local council to the Presidency.

Remember, for those clamouring drones only in the North, they are not 100% hausa or Muslims, other tribes and religions are there as well, if that is what Naija man go wish for his fellas, then something is terribly wrong with some of us.

Goodays: One thing you guys should understand is the fact that U.S does not do anything for any country without getting something or gaining something in return, I just hope it will not be heinous act. Nigeria is blessed.
God gave us everything( out of 350 mineral resources Nigeria has about 180) but Nigeria lack one thing which is "Leadership". Think about it guys.

Before nko?

PROUD-IGBO:
Good! They should hurry up.

What is a Drone? If the target car is close to yours,do you think the drone will target just that car and that is all? Guy wakeup.

I think About 5000 drones will be enough.

This is why I fear for our country!

The US is saying drone strikes may extend to Nigeria and our Government are silent. Are we at war with the US If we're not, they have no business sending drones into our airspace. Are we a country at war If we're not, then nobody whether US or Nigeria should be carrying out aerial bombing.

I can just imagine now, the US will be bombing indiscriminately and GEJ and Sambo will be thanking them!