announced anwar al awlaki was killed, but not that we killed him. why wouldn t we have said before that we killed him, and why could it be said now, why should it be said now? well, any disclosure of that nature, which today involved declassifying certain things, involves careful consideration. we think about the consequences in a variety of context, and i think what we saw today was the result of continued efforts at transparency. when i was in office, i, john brennan, the attorney general, harold coe, gave a number of speeches on the legal foundations of our efforts. last year we declassified the military s counterterrorism efforts in yemen and somalia, and so the conversation about acknowledging anwar al awlaki, who was a u.s. citizen, and acknowledging there were three
pentagon, there s no real guarantee that there s going to be more transparency. and that we will, we in the general public, will really know whether or not some of these basic targeted killings are still taking place. well, andrea, i think that there are three very significant things as a result of today s speech. and the attorney general s letter yesterday, that going to come out of this. one is we see the continuing efforts at transparency, that the president is determined to see come about. we declassified our activities and the military s activities in yemen and somalia last year. i and the attorney general, harold coe, john brennan and others have given speeches on the legal foundations for our efforts. but yesterday when the u.s. government officially acknowledged that anwar al alaki
declassifying certain things, involves careful consideration. we think about the consequences in a variety of context, and i think what we saw today was the result of continued efforts at transparency. when i was in office, i, john brennan, the attorney general, harold coe, gave a number of speeches on the legal foundations of our efforts. last year we declassified the military s counterterrorism efforts in yemen and somalia, and so the conversation about acknowledging anwar al awlaki, who was a u.s. citizen, and acknowledging there were three other u.s. citizens who were not targeted, but who were killed as a result of our actions, was something that has began a while ago, has been going on for quite some time.
it be said now? well, any disclosure of that nature, which today involved declassifying certain things, involves careful consideration. we think about the consequences in a variety of context, and i think what we saw today was the result of continued efforts at transparency. when i was in office, i, john brennan, the attorney general, harold coe, gave a number of speeches on the legal foundations of our efforts. last year we declassified the military s counterterrorism efforts in yemen and somalia, and so the conversation about acknowledging anwar al awlaki, who was a u.s. citizen, and acknowledging there were three other u.s. citizens who were not targeted, but who were killed as a result of our actions, was something that has began a while ago, has been going on for quite some time.
0 considerations such as the elimination of the detentions, and et cetera, so what s really important here is that we cannot cement discrimination into law. thank you. that is all in for this evening. the rachel maddow show starts now. good evening, rachel. good evening, chris, thanks very much, my friend. thanks to you for staying with us for the next hour. on another day, frankly, of relentlessly breaking news all day long. the attorney general today wrote a letter to congress saying for the first time that four american citizens have been among the people killed by the u.s. government s drone program overseas. some of these u.s. citizens killed by drones were previously known, but at least one of them was not. this comes on the eve of the president s big civil liberties and national securities speech planned for tomorrow. we are told today that speech will also include a major announcement about starting up the process again of sending prisoners home from the prison at guant