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February 8, 2013<\/span><\/em> \u00a0| \u00a0<\/p>\n Like this article?<\/p>\n Join our email list:<\/p>\n During John Brennan\u2019s confirmation hearing for CIA director, the architect of Obama\u2019s drone program unapologetically defended targeted assassinations\u2013even of American citizens. Given his adamant defense of the program, there\u2019s still a lot the America people deserve to know.<\/p>\n But the Senate Intelligence Committee failed us. Rather than asking the tough questions, senators battled Code Pink protestors, kissed a lot of ass, and even told a waterboarding joke<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Several<\/a> journalists<\/a> and<\/a> bloggers<\/a> listed important questions for Mr. Brennan prior to his hearing. Most went unasked and unanswered. Here are some questions for Brennan that we still don\u2019t have answers to:<\/p>\n 1. Will You Please Recite the Fifth Amendment?<\/strong><\/p>\n Brennan and Sen. Diane Feinstein engaged in a lengthy exchange over Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born cleric who was killed by way of drone strike in 2011. The U.S. citizen, accused of aiding and abetting Al Qaeda, did not get a chance to stand trial before the Obama administration pulled the trigger. Yet, Feinstein fed Brennan everything he needed to defend the administration\u2019s complete disregard for due process, guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment. If al-Awkali was such a \u201cbad guy,\u201d as Feinstein repeated over and over, why couldn\u2019t we indict him? Writer Jeremy Scahill put it best in a tweet<\/a>: \u201cThe faux trial that Feinstein & Brennan gave Anwar Awlaki today (with no evidence) was the only trial they gave him–and it was posthumous.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 2. Why Did the President Kill an American Teenager?<\/strong><\/p>\n While we heard Anwar al-Awlaki\u2019s name numerous times through the hearing, another drone target of the Obama administration didn\u2019t get a single mention: al-Awlaki\u2019s son, 16-year-old Abdulrahman al-Awlaki. The Denver-born teenager was killed in an airstrike<\/a> two weeks after his father died. We know hardly anything about his death, and the administration has not been eager to give answers.<\/p>\n 3. Are there ANY Qualifications for Authorizing Death Sentences?<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr. Brennan described waterboarding as \u201creprehensible\u201d and \u201csomething that should not be done,\u201d but refused on multiple occasions to call it torture. Why? Because, as Brennan reminded us over and over, he is \u201cnot a lawyer.\u201d While Senator Carl Levin, pressed him on torture, no one took the opportunity to question the drone architect on the broad language used to justify targeting U.S. citizens, as revealed by a leaked DOJ white paper this week. The memo made headlines. In particular, civil liberties advocates took issue with a section detailing how \u201cinformed, high-level officials\u201d get to decide if a target poses \u201can imminent threat of violent attack against the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n Blogger Marcy Wheeler notes the absurdity<\/a> of Brennan appealing to legal ignorance to deflect on torture, while claiming the authority to give out death sentences: \u201cIn other words, according to the guy who has been acting as judge and jury for the last four years, the guy who has been acting as judge and jury is completely incompetent to act as judge and jury.\u201d<\/p>\n 4. Why did the Obama administration wait until election season to codify rules for assassinating people?<\/strong><\/p>\n The New York Review of Books\u2019 David Cole raised this excellent question<\/a> before Brennan\u2019s hearing took place. While committee members did grill Brennan on transparency with the drone program, we didn\u2019t get a clear picture on why \u201cTerror Tuesdays\u201d went on for so long without some set rules. As Cole put it, \u201cDon\u2019t you think there should have been clear rules and fair procedures in place before the Obama administration ordered the killing of hundreds of human beings?\u201d Furthermore, Cole adds that any rules that are adopted won\u2019t apply to Pakistan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Senate Intelligence Committee completely skirted the questions that the American people need answered.<\/p>\n February 8, 2013<\/span><\/em> | <\/p>\n Like this article?<\/p>\n Join our email list:<\/p>\n During John Brennan’s confirmation hearing for CIA director, the architect of Obama’s drone program unapologetically defended targeted assassinations—even of American citizens. Given his adamant defense of the program, there’s still a lot the America people deserve to know.<\/p>\n But the Senate Intelligence Committee failed us. Rather than asking the tough questions, senators battled Code Pink protestors, kissed a lot of ass, and even told a waterboarding joke<\/a>. <\/p>\n Several<\/a> journalists<\/a> and<\/a> bloggers<\/a> listed important questions for Mr. Brennan prior to his hearing. Most went unasked and unanswered. Here are some questions for Brennan that we still don’t have answers to:<\/p>\n 1. Will You Please Recite the Fifth Amendment?<\/strong><\/p>\n Brennan and Sen. Diane Feinstein engaged in a lengthy exchange over Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born cleric who was killed by way of drone strike in 2011. The U.S. citizen, accused of aiding and abetting Al Qaeda, did not get a chance to stand trial before the Obama administration pulled the trigger. Yet, Feinstein fed Brennan everything he needed to defend the administration’s complete disregard for due process, guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment. If al-Awkali was such a “bad guy,” as Feinstein repeated over and over, why couldn’t we indict him? Writer Jeremy Scahill put it best in a tweet<\/a>: “The faux trial that Feinstein & Brennan gave Anwar Awlaki today (with no evidence) was the only trial they gave him–and it was posthumous.” <\/p>\n 2. Why Did the President Kill an American Teenager?<\/strong><\/p>\n While we heard Anwar al-Awlaki’s name numerous times through the hearing, another drone target of the Obama administration didn’t get a single mention: al-Awlaki’s son, 16-year-old Abdulrahman al-Awlaki. The Denver-born teenager was killed in an airstrike<\/a> two weeks after his father died. We know hardly anything about his death, and the administration has not been eager to give answers.<\/p>\n 3. Are there ANY Qualifications for Authorizing Death Sentences?<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr. Brennan described waterboarding as “reprehensible” and “something that should not be done,” but refused on multiple occasions to call it torture. Why? Because, as Brennan reminded us over and over, he is “not a lawyer.” While Senator Carl Levin, pressed him on torture, no one took the opportunity to question the drone architect on the broad language used to justify targeting U.S. citizens, as revealed by a leaked DOJ white paper this week. The memo made headlines. In particular, civil liberties advocates took issue with a section detailing how “informed, high-level officials” get to decide if a target poses “an imminent threat of violent attack against the United States.”<\/p>\nStay up to date with the latest headlines via email.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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