Minneapolis Review

WASHINGTON—Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) released the following statement after U.S. officials walked back a claim that a recent drone strike killed an influential al-Qaeda leader in Syria, instead killing a civilian father of ten.

“It is shameful and unacceptable that another civilian life was taken by another covert drone strike. The hard truth is that this tragedy is not exceptional - thousands of people around the world have been killed in unaccountable strikes over the past two decades. We need full accountability and a full inquiry into this strike to ensure more innocent lives are not senselessly taken with no repercussions. The Biden Administration has made commendable progress on civilian harm in our drone program, but this strike is more proof that there is simply no way to conduct the program humanely. We owe it to the families of victims to acknowledge the truth of what happened, provide the compensation that Congress has repeatedly authorized, and allow independent investigations into these attacks. As long as we live in a country where the only people who face charges for civilian casualties are the whistleblowers who tell the truth about it, we will never move beyond this tragic cycle. It is imperative that the United States ensures our military operations are conducted with complete respect for international law because when we say we champion human rights and peace, we should mean it.”

You can read Rep. Omar's letter to President Biden to pardon Daniel Hale here.

Issues: Foreign Policy

Original source can be found here