The US Government doesn't need to tell you if a CIA drone is trying to kill you

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4 years ago
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With special guest, Tactical Bra, from the Lawful Masses discord!
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An American Journalist who says he had been targeted and hurt by US drone strikes has been fear for his life following the Trump government utilized its "state secret" privilege to withhold information which could confirm if he was really put in a drone kill record.

US-born journalist Bilal Abdul Kareem established a lawsuit this past year after he stated that he had been targeted at least five occasions by US drone strikes in northwest Syria.

Kareem believes he had been targeted by US air strikes because of his routine contact with members of militant groups working inside Syria, such as al-Qaeda-linked classes, as a part of his coverage.

He had been permitted to move with the situation in June 2018 later US District Judge Rosemary Collyer disregarded the US government's effort to get his case thrown out, saying he was exercising his constitutional right to due process in court.

His case, however, was disregarded by Collyer on Tuesday following the Trump government used the "state-secret" liberty, a seldom-used energy, so to not confirm his positioning to a US drone kill record.

Responding to the judgment, Kareem explained the dad's determination to dismiss his own situation as a"big blow", as he continues to live in fear of being targeted by US drone strikes inside Syria.

"I have no protection if they want to try [to kill me] again next week, next month or six months from now. Do you really trust the Trump administration to handle this responsibly?" Kareem advised Middle East Eye from northwest Syria.

"My feeling right now is that if I myself as an American citizen can't get the government to admit what we already know - that I am on a kill list - what about non-Americans?"

Jennifer Gibson, Kareem's co-counsel, described the judgment as tacitly Approving the US government's capability to"wield excessive power" and also"hide behind [the] spectre of national security' to deprive people of their basic rights".

"Today, a court ruled that the US government could kill an American Citizen without due process," Gibson, who's a staff lawyer at Reprieve, said in a statement.

"In so doing, it allowed the Trump administration to run roughshod over the constitution and tacitly approved the executive's exercise of unfettered power over its citizens in the name of 'national security'."

At a 14-page memorandum opinion, Collyer outlined the court had no option but to "dismiss" the actions because of the US administration's"invocation of the state secret privilege".

"What constitutional right is more essential than the right to due process before the government may take a life? While the answer may be none, federal courts possess limited authority to resolve questions presented in a lawsuit, even when they are alleged to involve constitutional rights," Collyer said her decision.

"This is such a case. Despite the serious nature of plaintiff's allegations, this court must dismiss the action pursuant to the government's invocation of the state secrets privilege."

Prosecutors added that revealing whether Kareem was about the"kill List" would allow him to evade capture or additional US actions against him and undermine intelligence sources on the ground.

Commenting on the broader consequences of this case, Kareem considers the US government has established"a gross injustice to the American people" by refusing to affirm if he's appointed on a kill record.

"It's easy when a terror attack happens to trumpet it and say that we continue to fight terror. But nobody wants to talk about the steps we have taken to create that environment," he explained.

"Nobody wants to take the conversation that far and I think that a gross injustice is being done to the American people. They don't see that the government blocks the avenues to justice and once the avenues of justice are blocked, then it is only natural for people to turn to what? They turn to violence.

"I continue to take the political struggle but I cannot pretend this is not a blow off."

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