Analyst: US not accountable over drone strikes

Alfred Lambremont Webre, a war crimes lawyer said, “The United States is going forward again as an outlaw nation to continue its program of international assassination without accountability in my legal opinion.”

Pointing to a move by US senators to remove a provision from a bill authorizing intelligence operations for fiscal 2014, he called on the international community to “become much more aggressive.”

US senators have voted to remove a provision from an intelligence bill that would oblige President Barack Obama to disclose information about deadly drone strikes overseas and the victims.

The provision, which originally required the US president to annually issue a report on the total number of “combatants” and “noncombatant civilians” killed or injured by drones, was removed at the request of James Clapper, the director of national intelligence.

The commentator further said that in a 22-page document about drone strikes in Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Pakistan and Gaza, UN Special Rapporteur Ben Emmerson concluded that such attacks may violate international law because there is no accountability and no transparency.

Webre pointed out, “So that shows that the United States has the least intention of giving any transparency as to its drone assassination program.”

The decision to remove the drone transparency requirement is the latest in efforts by lawmakers to preserve the status quo surrounding the drone strikes.

For about a decade, the United States has been running assassination drone programs in several countries. The drone strikes often result in civilian casualties.

The US continues its drone attacks despite the United Nations warning that the strikes are “targeted killings” that flout international law.