states only authorizes an attack when there's near certainty that no civilians will be killed. he gave a forthright defense of the killing of the u.s. citizen anwar al awlaki saying -- >> when a u.s. citizen goes abroad to wage war against america and is actively plotting to kill u.s. citizens, and when neither the united states nor our partners are in a position to capture him before he carries out a plot, his citizenship should no more serve as a shield than a sniper shooting down on an innocent crowd should be protected from a s.w.a.t. team. >> the president made no defense of the other three american citizens who have been killed including abdul al awlaki, the 16-year-old of anwar awlaki. despite claims from previous administration officials to the contrary. >> it is a hard fact that u.s. strikes have resulted in civilian casualties.