Early Report Indicates UBL Killed by Drone Strike in Pakistan...How Will Drone Critics Respond?
[SECOND UPDATE: Not a drone strike, and probably not a test of the legal questions raised by drones...see here.]
The President has not yet spoken to the public, but early reports indicate that UBL was killed by missile strike about a week ago. I am assuming this was a drone strike in Pakistan [see update below], and hence quite likely a CIA-directed strike. In my view, there is not the slightest doubt that this was a lawful strike. But some have argued that drones cannot lawfully be us
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[SECOND UPDATE: Not a drone strike, and probably not a test of the legal questions raised by drones...see here.]
The President has not yet spoken to the public, but early reports indicate that UBL was killed by missile strike about a week ago. I am assuming this was a drone strike in Pakistan [see update below], and hence quite likely a CIA-directed strike. In my view, there is not the slightest doubt that this was a lawful strike. But some have argued that drones cannot lawfully be used by the US in Pakistan, that lethal strikes conducted by the CIA are unlawful, and so forth. It will be interesting indeed to see how those critics will react should it prove to be the case that this was indeed a CIA-operated drone strike in Pakistan. [UPDATE: CNN reports UBL was killed "in a mansion outside Islamabad...along with family members". Needless to say, this is the first report of a drone strike in Pakistan outside the tribal areas, let alone outside Islamabad. Which rather sharpens the question raised above, I think.]
Robert (Bobby) Chesney is the Dean of the University of Texas School of Law, where he also holds the James A. Baker III Chair in the Rule of Law and World Affairs at UT. He is known internationally for his scholarship relating both to cybersecurity and national security. He is a co-founder of Lawfare, the nation’s leading online source for analysis of national security legal issues, and he co-hosts the popular show The National Security Law Podcast.
