It is puzzling that Obama would invoke the United Nations Charter’s right of self-defense—the only exception to the charter’s prohibition of military force. The charter permits a state to act in self-defense only after an armed attack on the United States or another U.N. member state. Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya have not mounted an armed attack against the U.S. or any other U.N. member country. (Neither have Iraq, Afghanistan or Syria, for that matter.) So there is no lawful basis for the U.S. to claim it is acting in self-defense when it launches airstrikes in those countries. When a state is engaged in armed conflict, it must abide by the laws of war, or international humanitarian law. That means the use of force must satisfy the distinction and proportionality requirements. In order to comply with the distinction mandate, the state must always distinguish between combatants and civilians. Proportionality means that an attack cannot be excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage. The evidence shows we cannot trust the administration to comply with these legal requirements. “The Drone Papers” is a treasure trove of secret military documents provided to The Intercept by an anonymous whistleblower, a member of the intelligence establishment. Those documents indicate that the administration labels unidentified males who are killed in a strike zone “enemies killed in action,” unless there is evidence posthumously proving they were not terrorists or “unlawful enemy combatants.” Perhaps most disturbing, “[Obama’s] order further institutionalized and normalized air strikes outside conventional war zones as a routine part of 21st-century national security policy,” Charlie Savage and Scott Shane wrote in The New York Times. Like his predecessor, Obama defines the whole world as his battlefield, reserving for himself the role of judge, jury and executioner. Compliance with due process (arrest and fair trial), which the U.S. Constitution guarantees all persons, not just U.S. citizens, has not been a priority in the Obama administration’s “war on terror.” Drone strikes will not conquer terrorism. The bipartisan Stimson Task Force, composed of senior military and intelligence officials, warned that the “secret war” of lethal drone strikes was “creating a slippery slope toward continual or widening conflict and instability.” Four former Air Force service members who participated in the drone program are Brandon Bryant, Michael Haas, Stephen Lewis and Cian Westmoreland. They wrote an open letter to Obama saying that the drone program has “fueled the feelings of hatred that ignited terrorism and groups like [Islamic State]” and that the killing of civilians in drone strikes has been one of the most “devastating driving forces for terrorism and destabilization around the world.” Marjorie Cohn is professor emeritus at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and former president of the National Lawyers Guild. She writes and speaks about human rights and U.S. foreign policy. Her most recent book is “Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral, and Geopolitical Issues.” Visit her website and follow her on Twitter at @marjoriecohn. Your support matters…

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#afghanistan#barack obama#cia#civilians#drone strikes#iraq#libya#marjorie cohn#pakistan#somalia#td-original#usa