Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/334913
ByLarryNeumeister TheAssociatedPress NEWYORK TheObamaad- ministration justified us- ing drones to kill Ameri- cans suspected of terror- ism overseas by citing the war against al-Qaida and by saying a surprise attack against an American in a foreign land would not vi- olate the laws of war, ac- cording to a previously se- cret government memoran- dum released Monday. The memo provided legal justification for the Septem- ber 2011 killing in Yemen of Anwar Al-Awlaki, an al- Qaida leader and one-time cleric at a northern Virginia mosque who had been born in the United States, and another U.S. citizen, Samir Khan, who edited al-Qai- da's Internet magazine. An October 2011 strike also killed Abdulrahman al-Aw- laki, al-Awlaki's teenage son and also a U.S. citizen. The memo, written by a Justice Department offi- cial, said the killing of al- Awlaki was justified under a law passed by Congress soon after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. The law em- powered the president to use force against organiza- tions that planned, autho- rized and committed the at- tacks. Al-Awlaki had been in- volved in an abortive attack against the United States and was planning other at- tacks from his base in Ye- men, the memo said. It said the authority to use lethal force abroad may apply in appropriate circumstances to a U.S. citizen who is part of the forces of an enemy or- ganization. The memo stated the De- fense Department opera- tion was being carried out against someone who was within the core of individu- als against whom Congress had authorized the use of "necessary and appropri- ate" force. It said the kill- ing was justified as long as it was carried out in accord with applicable laws of war. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Man- hattan released the memo, portions of which were blacked out, after the Amer- ican Civil Liberties Union and The New York Times filed a lawsuit seeking any documents in which Justice Department lawyers had discussed the highly classi- fied "targeted-killing" pro- gram. The appeals court or- dered the memo disclosed after noting that President Barack Obama and other senior government officials had commented publicly on the subject. White House spokesman Josh Earnest, responding to criticism from groups that complained that it took a court order to get the memo released, said the adminis- tration worked through the legal system "to produce a redacted document that protected national security interests while at the same time trying to live up to our commitment to trans- parency." "In this case, I think even the groups that sharply crit- icized us would call this a win for transparency," Ear- nest said. Jameel Jaffer, an ACLU lawyer who argued the case before the 2nd Circuit, said the memo will shed light on the administration's reasoning, but "the public still knows scandalously little about who the govern- ment is killing and why." He added, "There are few ques- tions more important than the question of when the government has the author- ity to kill its own citizens." David E. McCraw, vice president and assistant gen- eral counsel for the Times, called the memo "a critical addition to the public de- bate over targeted killings and should fuel a richer dis- cussion of the legal and se- curity issues that are at the heart of that debate." The memo was written by David Barron, who at the time was acting chief of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. He was re- cently confirmed as a judge in the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. U.S. officials considered al-Awlaki to be an inspira- tional leader of al-Qaida, and they have linked him to the planning and execution of several attacks targeting American and Western in- terests, including a 2009 at- tempt on Christmas Day on a Detroit-bound airliner. LEGAL Memo explains when US can kill its citizens Administration justifies drone use News feed THEASSOCIATEDPRESS An ordinance is placed next to a tank following the first death on the Israeli side of the Golan since the Syrian civil war erupted more than three years ago. A civilian vehicle in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights was targeted by forces in neighboring Syria on Sunday in an attack that killed a 15-year-old boy and prompted Israeli tanks to retaliate by firing on Syrian government targets, the Israeli military said. HARRISBURG, PA. A report released Monday detailing the handling of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation case faults police and prosecutors for long delays in bringing charges against the former Penn State as- sistant coach but found no evidence that politics affected the investiga- tion. The report, commissioned by At- torney General Kathleen Kane and written by former federal prosecutor Geoff Moulton, blamed a three-year lapse in filing charges on communi- cation problems, an expungement of a 1998 complaint about Sandusky and a failure to take certain investi- gative steps early on. "The facts show an inexcus- able lack of urgency in charging and stopping a serial sexual preda- tor," said Kane, a Democrat who had vowed to conduct a review of the in- vestigation while running for office. "The report documents that more in- vestigative work took place in just one month in 2011 than in all of ei- ther 2009 or 2010." LEGAL Report:Politicshadnorolein Sandusky probe WASHINGTON A top federal investi- gator has identified "a troubling pat- tern of deficient patient care" at Vet- erans Affairs facilities around the country that she says was pointed out by whistleblowers but down- played by the department. In a letter Monday to President Barack Obama, Carolyn Lerner of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel cited canceled appointments with no fol- low up, drinking water contaminated with the bacteria that causes Legion- naires' disease and improper han- dling of surgical equipment and sup- plies. Lerner said the VA consistently acknowledges problems but says the quality of patient care is not af- fected, which she referred to as "the VA's typical harmless error ap- proach." "This approach has prevented the VA from acknowledging the sever- ity of systemic problems and from taking the necessary steps to pro- vide quality care to veterans," Lerner wrote to Obama. "As a result, veter- ans' health and safety has been un- necessarily put at risk." VETERANS Investigator: 'Troubling pattern' of patient care BOSTON Lawyers for two friends of the Boston Marathon bombing sus- pects argued Monday the friends have been unfairly targeted because of their relationships with the men accused of carrying out the deadly attack. Azamat Tazhayakov, 20, a college friend of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Khairullozhon Matanov, a Quincy cab driver who was a friend of Tsar- naev's brother, Tamerlan, were in court for separate hearings on charges of impeding the investiga- tion into the 2013 bombing. Tazhayakov is accused of removing items from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's dorm room at the University of Massachu- setts-Dartmouth after the bombing, while Matanov is accused for deleting files from his computer and lying to investigators. Neither man is accused of participating in the attack or know- ing about the bombings in advance. With Tazhayakov's trial set to begin next week, his lawyers said they were confident he will be acquitted. Attor- ney Matthew Meyers told reporters that prosecutors offered Tazhayakov a deal if he agreed to plead to reduced charges, but he rejected it. BOSTON MARATHON BOMBING Tsarnaevs' friends: We're being wrongly targeted KHARTOUM, SUDAN A Sudanese woman sentenced to death for apos- tasy was freed Monday by a Khartoum court, and has rejoined her Christian husband with their two young chil- dren, her lawyer and state media said. State news agency SUNA said the Court of Cassation threw out the death sentence against 27-year-old Meriam Ibrahim after defense law- yers presented their case. Her lawyer, Eman Abdul-Rahim, said Ibrahim left prison and was with her husband. Her 18-month-old son, Martin, had been with her in jail, where she gave birth last month to a second child. Ibrahim, whose father was Mus- lim but who was raised by her Chris- tian mother, was convicted of apos- tasy for marrying a Christian. Su- dan's penal code forbids Muslims from converting to other religions, a crime punishable by death. Ibrahim married a Christian man from southern Sudan in a church ceremony in 2011. As in many Mus- lim nations, Muslim women in Su- dan are prohibited from marrying non-Muslims, though Muslim men can marry outside their faith. SUDAN Woman on death row for apostasy freed by court The Associated Press HOUSTON A bipartisan group of may- ors from across the country unani- mously approved a resolution Mon- day that calls on cities to use natural solutions to fight the effects of climate change. Attendees of the U.S. Conference of Mayors voted in Dallas on the resolu- tion that encourages cities to use na- ture to "protect freshwater supplies, defend the nation's coastlines, main- tain a healthy tree and green space cover and protect air quality," some- times by partnering with nonprofit or- ganizations. The resolution was backed by may- ors from GOP-dominated states — Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell, Hous- ton Mayor Annise Parker and Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton. It passed easily even though Repub- licans and Democrats remain deeply divided over how to deal with climate change. Although science shows hu- man industrial activity is contribut- ing to global warming, some conser- vatives remain skeptical. "What's so significant is that there was a unanimous vote on an issue that can be so divisive," said Laura Huff- man, director of The Nature Conser- vancy in Texas. "When you peel away the high-level arguments and deal with the ground-level issues everyone just rolls up their sleeves and gets to work." Mayors are looking for alternatives to traditional infrastructure projects that will be cost-effective and provide residents with amenities. For example, Huffman said, Phila- delphia Mayor Michael Nutter is com- bining traditional pipes with open spaces as he revamps the city's storm water collection system. These open spaces collect water much like pipes do, while providing residents with ad- ditional parks. "We're seeing that all over the coun- try," Huffman said. CLIMATE CHANGE Mayors OK ideas to slow warming Whenitcomestofinding the perfect home, make sure you have the right realtor on your side. MeetYour Dream Team Stromer Realty (530) 527-3100 590 Antelope Blvd. Bldg. 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