President Trump’s pick to be the CIA’s top lawyer would not categorically state that the deliberate attacking of “terrorists’ families” is illegal.
Agency General Counsel-nominee Courtney Elwood said that the practice “would implicate a variety of laws.” She also noted that it would target “persons who are not otherwise lawful targets under existing law.” But Elwood did not overtly state that the practice violates federal and international law, when asked by Democratic Senators.
“If confirmed, I will work to ensure that all activities of the CIA fully and faithfully comply with the Constitution and US law,” Elwood concluded, in written testimony. Collective punishment is forbidden by the Geneva Convention of 1949, which the US signed.
The inquiring lawmakers, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M), specifically cited President Trump’s campaign promise “to take out their families.”
“Do you agree that this would be a violation of US and international law?” they asked. Elwood, as noted, avoided directly answering the question.
Her response was submitted last week to Sens. Wyden and Heinrich. Elwood appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, but the issue of targeting innocent civilians was not raised.
In March, President Trump reauthorized CIA drone strikes. President Obama had allowed them throughout most of his two terms in office, but last summer put the majority of the drone program under direct control of the Pentagon.
During his presidency, Obama’s covert drone program came under fire for killing up to 807 civilians in Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan–countries that the US had not officially targeted with declarations of war.
The former president was also criticized for authorizing the 2011 drone strike that killed the 16-year-old son of radical preacher Anwar Al-Awlaki. Both were US citizens in Yemen, at the time of their killings.
Obama, however, did not intend for the teenage Abdulrahman Al-Awlaki to be targeted. He was reportedly “surprised and upset and wanted an explanation” upon learning that he had been killed by the CIA.
Trump, as noted, has shown little-to-no concern for the safety of civilians in the vicinity of US payloads. Since he has been in office, the number of civilians killed by US-led operations in Iraq and Syria has risen to record numbers.
“For the third straight month the reported civilian toll of Russian airstrikes in Syria was surpassed by that of the Coalition in both Iraq and Syria,” Airwars.org noted two weeks ago. The group estimated that in March, US-led forces killed between “a massive total of 1,782 to 3,471 civilian non-combatants.”
Trump’s first military authorization—a raid in Yemen—was also criticized for being reckless, and also took the life of an Al-Awlaki child: Anwar’s 8-year-old daughter.
According to The Intercept, the raid gleaned zero intelligence and was actually launched to take out an Al-Qaeda leader, contradicting White House claims. At least 23 civilians and one Navy SEAL were killed in the mission.
