SANA, Yemen — I LEARNED that my 16-year-old grandson, Abdulrahman — a United States citizen — had been killed by an American drone strike from news reports the morning after he died. The missile killed him, his teenage cousin and at least five other civilians on Oct. 14, 2011, while the boys were eating dinner at an open-air restaurant in southern Yemen. I visited the site later, once I was able to bear the pain of seeing where he sat in his final moments. Local residents told me his body was blown to pieces. They showed me the grave where they buried his remains. I stood over it, asking why my grandchild was dead. Nearly two years later, I still have no answers. The United States government has refused to explain why Abdulrahman was killed. It was not until May of this year that the Obama administration, in a supposed effort to be more transparent, publicly acknowledged what the world already knew — that it was responsible for his death. The attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., said only that Abdulrahman was not “specifically targeted,” raising more questions than he answered. My grandson was killed by his own government. The Obama administration must answer for its actions and be held accountable. On Friday, I will petition a federal court in Washington to require the government to do just that. Abdulrahman was born in Denver. He lived in America until he was 7, then came to live with me in Yemen. He was a typical teenager — he watched “The Simpsons,” listened to Snoop Dogg, read “Harry Potter” and had a Facebook page with many friends. He had a mop of curly hair, glasses like me and a wide, goofy smile. In 2010, the Obama administration put Abdulrahman’s father, my son Anwar, on C.I.A. and Pentagon “kill lists” of suspected terrorists targeted for death. A drone took his life on Sept. 30, 2011. The government repeatedly made accusations of terrorism against Anwar — who was also an American citizen — but never charged him with a crime. No court ever reviewed the government’s claims nor was any evidence of criminal wrongdoing ever presented to a court. He did not deserve to be deprived of his constitutional rights as an American citizen and killed. Early one morning in September 2011, Abdulrahman set out from our home in Sana by himself. He went to look for his father, whom he hadn’t seen for years. He left a note for his mother explaining that he missed his father and wanted to find him, and asking her to forgive him for leaving without permission. A couple of days after Abdulrahman left, we were relieved to receive word that he was safe and with cousins in southern Yemen, where our family is from. Days later, his father was targeted and killed by American drones in a northern province, hundreds of miles away. After Anwar died, Abdulrahman called us and said he was going to return home. That was the last time I heard his voice. He was killed just two weeks after his father. A country that believes it does not even need to answer for killing its own is not the America I once knew. From 1966 to 1977, I fulfilled a childhood dream and studied in the United States as a Fulbright scholar, earning my doctorate and then working as a researcher and assistant professor at universities in New Mexico, Nebraska and Minnesota. I have fond memories of those years. When I first came to the United States as a student, my host family took me camping by the ocean and on road trips to places like Yosemite, Disneyland and New York — and it was wonderful. After returning to Yemen, I used my American education and skills to help my country, serving as Yemen’s minister of agriculture and fisheries and establishing one of the country’s leading institutions of higher learning, Ibb University. Abdulrahman used to tell me he wanted to follow in my footsteps and go back to America to study. I can’t bear to think of those conversations now. After Anwar was put on the government’s list, but before he was killed, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights represented me in a lawsuit challenging the government’s claim that it could kill anyone it deemed an enemy of the state. The court dismissed the case, saying that I did not have standing to sue on my son’s behalf and that the government’s targeted killing program was outside the court’s jurisdiction anyway. After the deaths of Abdulrahman and Anwar, I filed another lawsuit, seeking answers and accountability. The government has argued once again that its targeted killing program is beyond the reach of the courts. I find it hard to believe that this can be legal in a constitutional democracy based on a system of checks and balances. The government has killed a 16-year-old American boy. Shouldn’t it at least have to explain why? http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/18/op...dson.html?_r=0

Originally posted by JonnyϟLightning America is becoming the ultimate Authoritarian government. ALL OF THIS IS APPROVED BY OBAMA. He steadily is responsible for the slaughtering of US Citizens for NO REASON. Why the **** do you need drones on US soil? This is reminiscent of how Hitler was raising internal military in Germany before WWII. This + the patriot act are signs of the dark road America is taking. Did you see how easily they made Boston a police-state during the bombings? For "safety." Worse, we Americans ALLOW this by sitting back and letting it to happen.

Originally posted by JonnyϟLightning America is becoming the ultimate Authoritarian government. ALL OF THIS IS APPROVED BY OBAMA. He steadily is responsible for the slaughtering of US Citizens for NO REASON. Why the **** do you need drones on US soil? This is reminiscent of how Hitler was raising internal military in Germany before WWII. This + the patriot act are signs of the dark road America is taking. Did you see how easily they made Boston a police-state during the bombings? For "safety." Worse, we Americans ALLOW this by sitting back and letting it to happen.

Originally posted by .:Allen:. Look, I feel bad for these killings of innocent people BUT if we're trying to go after Al Qaeda, there's always a slim chance that something will go wrong. And yah, we've killed a few people BY MISTAKE, but we've also decimated Al Qaeda in the Middle East and we are now destroying Al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula. We have the technology to do these drone strikes with utmost accuracy, and sometimes there's a few slip ups, but if it were any other country doing these drone strikes, there would be the same, if not more civilian losses.

Originally posted by TikiMiss 176 children have been killed in Pakistan alone by drones. source I get trying to destroy Al Qaeda, but you honestly don't think killing innocent children is going to create, spur, and embolden hatred for Americans in those otherwise innocent families? You don't think it could strengthen new hate-American groups?

Originally posted by .:Allen:. I know it can cause hatred for Americans, but let's be honest, Americans will always be hated in the Middle East, and it will always be that way, no matter how hard we try to help other people.

Originally posted by .:Allen:. Look, I feel bad for these killings of innocent people BUT if we're trying to go after Al Qaeda, there's always a slim chance that something will go wrong. And yah, we've killed a few people BY MISTAKE, but we've also decimated Al Qaeda in the Middle East and we are now destroying Al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula. We have the technology to do these drone strikes with utmost accuracy, and sometimes there's a few slip ups, but if it were any other country doing these drone strikes, there would be the same, if not more civilian losses.

Originally posted by .:Allen:. You're ****ing retarded. You sound like a ****ing crazy. Sit the **** down.

Originally posted by JonnyϟLightning America is becoming the ultimate Authoritarian government. ALL OF THIS IS APPROVED BY OBAMA. He steadily is responsible for the slaughtering of US Citizens for NO REASON. Why the **** do you need drones on US soil? This is reminiscent of how Hitler was raising internal military in Germany before WWII. This + the patriot act are signs of the dark road America is taking. Did you see how easily they made Boston a police-state during the bombings? For "safety." Worse, we Americans ALLOW this by sitting back and letting it to happen.

Originally posted by .:Allen:. I know it can cause hatred for Americans, but let's be honest, Americans will always be hated in the Middle East, and it will always be that way, no matter how hard we try to help other people.

Originally posted by Big Smoke Obama is giving ZERO ****s this rounds. But hey, at least gays can join the Army openly, right? Thats the thing, They didnt ask for help. THATS why they hate America EDIT: to expand on that, HOW exactly did the US Help? Hussein is dead, The top 5 in Al Qaeda is dead, Iraq/Afghanistan is worse than when they went in.

Originally posted by BBathHausOfGaga This happens all the time yet no one or the media says anything about it. It's really sad.

Originally posted by JonnyϟLightning America is becoming the ultimate Authoritarian government. ALL OF THIS IS APPROVED BY OBAMA. He steadily is responsible for the slaughtering of US Citizens for NO REASON. Why the **** do you need drones on US soil? This is reminiscent of how Hitler was raising internal military in Germany before WWII. This + the patriot act are signs of the dark road America is taking. Did you see how easily they made Boston a police-state during the bombings? For "safety." Worse, we Americans ALLOW this by sitting back and letting it to happen.

What the **** are you talking about?

I mean I agree with you that the drone program was out of control, but how the hell did Boston become a "police-state" during the bombings? It was business as normal all week after the bombings, they put the city on lockdown for like, one day (because the bombers were on the run, armed, throwing explosives). And I mean its not like there were police barricading people in, people were legitimately scared and didn't want to go outside. Once Jahar was caught, everyone partied in the streets all night.

You always make it so obvious you don't actually do any research. You just repeat whatever blogs tell you to say.

And don't try to tell me I got this all from "biased sources" or some ****, I live in Boston. I got all my news on the lockdown and the bombings from my friends who were there.

Its funny how you guys are always so "Don't trust the government" but you'll blindly trust whatever you read on the internet

Originally posted by JonnyϟLightning If you read independent outlets, you will find this news. However, FOX, NBC and all those stations would never report something that sheds a bad light on the American government, because they're essentially controlled by the government (fact).

Originally posted by JonnyϟLightning America is becoming the ultimate Authoritarian government. ALL OF THIS IS APPROVED BY OBAMA. He steadily is responsible for the slaughtering of US Citizens for NO REASON. Why the **** do you need drones on US soil? This is reminiscent of how Hitler was raising internal military in Germany before WWII. This + the patriot act are signs of the dark road America is taking. Did you see how easily they made Boston a police-state during the bombings? For "safety." Worse, we Americans ALLOW this by sitting back and letting it to happen.

Maybe you should have actually read the article, because the drones were not on US soil. This took place in Yemen.

So odd how you're on this "wake up sheeple, get your news from real sources" slant but you don't even read the articles you comment on