In 1975 President Ford acknowledged that the government of the United States had previously plotted and attempted to assassinate foreign nationals (The infamous CIA “Family Jewels” document obtained by the Archive confirms that Fidel Castro was targeted). In 1976 Ford condemned these actions and issued Executive Order 11905 which prohibited employees of the United States from “engag[ing] in, or conspir[ing] to engage in, political assassination.” Does this Executive Order –still on the books– make it illegal to spy, follow, and then use drones to kill suspected Al-Qaeda and Taliban members in countries not at war with the United States? Nope, according to today’s hot doc entitled, “Draft Memorandum of Law, Subject: Assassination.” (more…)
