© Josh Smith / Reuters
On Thursday, Ahmad Zaidan, the former Al Jazeera Islamabad Bureau Chief, and Bilal Kareem, a freelance journalist, filed a lawsuit in the US District Court in Washington alleging they were erroneously placed on a kill list under former President Barack Obama's administration, which they say, President Donald Trump has illegally continued.
Zaidan was the first journalist to interview Osama Bin Laden in 1998 and Kareem is a US citizen who "narrowly avoided being killed by five separate air strikes," according to the lawsuit filed by UK-based human rights group Reprieve.
The suit claims both were labeled as terrorists and targeted as a result of an algorithm which gathered data and metadata from their travels, communications, as well as social media content and contacts.
They contend that they do not "pose any threat" and killing them "would constitute an assassination" under Section 2.11 of Executive Order 12333.
The journalists are demanding their names be removed from the kill list and request the courts declare they were placed on the kill list due to "arbitrary and capricious agency action, accomplished without due process, and in violation of the United States Constitution and U.S. and international law."
While the lawsuit acknowledges that both men were placed on the kill list under the Obama administration, they are suing Trump over his decision to keep them on as well as his decision to remove restrictions on placing people on the list.
CIA Director Michael Pompeo, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and National Security Adviser Herbert McMaster, as well as their departments, agencies or offices, are also named in the complaint.
Now, feelings like that can't even be imagined. Americans are more likely to be targeted, for actions the government is responsible for. You aren't even safe from your own government. This is just wrong! The division between wealthy and poor is more apparent today. If your wealthy or connected, you enjoy the benefits of being above the law and if your mistreated, you will be avenged. Either by the military or by private paramilitary forces. Changes like this are necessary and need to happen now!