On Tuesday, Philip Alston, a UN Special Rapporteur, voiced concerns about the international legal basis for unmanned drone killings on the Afghan border.
AU Law’s own Professor Kenneth Anderson has provided prior scholarship on international law related to targeted killings. Recently, he’s also blogged on this particular story at OpinioJuris.org. In these last two documents, Professor Anderson argues that the drone program is perfectly legal, as the United States is legitimately acting in its own self-defense.
Should the Obama Administration, as Anderson suggests, assert such legal bases more clearly? This is a compelling argument, especially if the program is, on the merits, the best method for narrowly targeting terrorists and avoiding innocents.