Dem. Senator To CIA Head Nominee: Should Obama Let Americans ‘Surrender Before Killing Them?’

In recent days, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) has expressed his suspicion about the Obama administration’s policy of legally justifying drone strikes on Americans who are deemed to have joined Al Qaeda. During the Senate confirmation hearings for Central Intelligence Agency director nominee, John Brennan, Wyden asked repeatedly if President Barack Obama’s administration would allow Americans targeted for a drone strike to surrender prior to killing them.

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“Do you believe that the president should provide an individual American with the opportunity to surrender before killing them?” Wyden asked.

Brennan began to defer to the administration when Wyden pressed him to respond with just his initial impression of the concept of a surrender.

Brennan said, in the case of Al Qaeda operatives targeted for killings, that the administration’s policy is clear: “Any American that joins Al Qaeda will know full well that they have joined an organization that is at war with the United States.”

“Any American who did that should know well that they, in fact, are part of an enemy against us, and that the United States will do everything possible to destroy that enemy to save American lives,” Brennan responded.

Wyden accepted his response, but stressed that he would prefer a straight response on whether the administration would accept the surrender of a militant American citizen overseas.

Watch the exchange below via C-SPAN

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