ACLU sues Obama administration to release records on drone strikes

The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Obama
administration Wednesday to force the release of details about U.S. drone strikes in
Yemen that killed terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki and other Americans.

The ACLU’s lawsuit is directed at the Defense Department,
CIA and Justice Department, asking for legal memos and evidence justifying the
killing of three Americans in Yemen, as well as information about how the United States adds Americans to its “kill lists,” which al-Awlaki was apparently on.

{mosads}The lawsuit comes two days after President Obama
acknowledged in a social media gathering Monday that the United States was using drone attacks
in Pakistan to target terrorists.

The lawsuit states that government officials have discussed the program publicly, and it references Obama’s comments, as well as those that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta made Sunday about drones on “60 Minutes.”

“The government’s self-serving attitude toward
transparency and disclosure is unacceptable,” the civil liberties group said in
a statement. “The public has a right to know the evidence and legal basis for
the deliberate targeted killing of U.S. citizens. So chilling a power must be
opened to public scrutiny and debate.”

The Obama administration has reportedly been debating
whether to release more information about the killing of al-Awlaki, an American
who became a key al Qaeda operative. He was killed in a drone strike in
September 2011 in Yemen.

A second American, Samir Khan, was also killed in the
strike, and a week later al-Awlaki’s son Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed in
another drone strike.

The ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act request
after the fall drone attacks, and said it has yet to receive any information.

The group posted a response from the CIA denying the
request.

“The CIA can neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of records
responsive to your request,” the agency stated, adding that “the fact of the
existence or nonexistence” is classified and protected from disclosure.