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US TARGETED KILLING, SECRECY, and the EROSION of the ASSASSINATION NORM by ANDRIS BANKA

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US TARGETED KILLING, SECRECY, and the EROSION of the ASSASSINATION NORM by ANDRIS BANKA US TARGETED KILLING, SECRECY, AND THE EROSION OF THE ASSASSINATION NORM By ANDRIS BANKA A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Political Science and International Studies School of Government and Society College of Social Sciences University of Birmingham April 2017 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT The objective of this thesis is twofold. First, by employing the norm ‘life’ and ‘death’ cycles grounded in constructivist scholarship, the research aims at determining to what extent the domestic norm against assassination in the United States has been weakened in the light of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the advent of new technologies, namely Predator drones. To that end, the study conceptualizes the norm and provides a historical look of targeted killings as a foreign policy tool. It traces and evaluates normative assumptions about this method from the 1970s to the end phases of Barack Obama presidency, concluding that there has been a substantial normative erosion. Secondly, the presented thesis also attempts to make a more theoretical contribution by observing mechanisms by which the normative change transpired, demonstrating that in the case of targeted drone strikes, the US government relied on deliberate partial official secrecy - quasi-secrecy - in order to avoid overt justification and achieve the normalisation of otherwise controversial practice. The study concludes that there is a strong link between US governments initiated quasi-secrecy – a tool that was applied deliberately and strategically, and successful legitimization of a new practice – routine targeted killings. These insights allow to advance our understanding of how normative legitimization works, benefiting the theoretical literature on norms. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am very grateful to my supervisor Dr. Adam Quinn for giving me the opportunity to come to pursue PhD degree at the University of Birmingham. I couldn’t have asked for a better supervisor than him. Similarly, I would like acknowledge the very useful advice and input of Professor Nicholas J. Wheeler, especially in terms of theoretical framing of the thesis. I am thankful to the Department of Political Science and International Studies of the University of Birmingham for their generous funding throughout three years period. My closest friends – Emmanuell, Magdalena and Renia, made this exhausting journey bearable. I am incredibly thankful to my family and fiancée for emotional support. They were always there when I needed them. I dedicate this dissertation to my grandparents. TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents Chapter One: Introduction and Research Question ............................................................... 5 Part I Chapter Two: Conceptual Framework 2.1. The norm against assassination in historical view ........................................................... 12 2.2. Conceptualizing targeted killing and ‘assassination’ ..................................................... 14 2.3. Locating the study in literature ..................................................................................... 21 2.4. Theorizing norms in Constructivism ............................................................................... 24 2.5. Norm ‘life’ and ‘death’ cycles ........................................................................................... 27 2.6. Norm cycles in the domestic arena ................................................................................. 30 2.7. Norms and strategies of legitimization ........................................................................... 33 2.8. Quasi-secrecy as an alternative to legitimization ........................................................... 36 2.9. Methods of research ........................................................................................................ 37 Part II Chapter Three: The Birth of the Norm: The Church Committee 3.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 43 3.2. Establishing the Church Committee ................................................................................ 44 3.3. The Fight for the Assassination Report ........................................................................... 48 3.4. Church Committee findings & recommendations ........................................................... 61 3.5 Introduction of the Assassination Ban: Executive Order 11905 ...................................... 66 3.6. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 68 Chapter Four: The Norm in the post-Church committee era (1975- 2001) 4.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 70 4.2. The Carter administration: complete opposition ............................................................ 71 4.3. Lebanon: short-lived consideration of ‘hit squads’ ........................................................ 72 4.4. Gaddafi’s dual status: leader and terrorist .................................................................... 79 4.5. The Bush administration: aiming at Noriega .................................................................. 81 4.6. Saddam Hussein and the war & peace distinction .......................................................... 83 4.7. Bill Clinton and the hunt for Osama Bin Laden ............................................................. 85 4.8. US opposition to Israel’s targeted killings ...................................................................... 87 4.9. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 89 Chapter Five: September 11 and the Norm Against Assassination 5.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 90 5.2. Debating the Assassination ban ...................................................................................... 92 5.3. Secret changes to the assassination ban ......................................................................... 97 5.4. The opening drone strike: Yemen .................................................................................... 103 5.5. Predator drones: upending the risk calculus .................................................................. 108 5.6. Legal foundation for targeted killing .............................................................................. 110 5.7. Keeping targeted killings in the shadows ....................................................................... 114 5.8. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 117 Chapter Six: The Obama Administration and Expansion of Targeted Killings 6.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 118 6.2. Inheriting & expanding targeted killings ....................................................................... 121 6.3. Targeted killings: from secrecy to quasi-secrecy ........................................................... 127 6.4. Official secrecy & selective leaks .................................................................................. 132 6.5. Fighting the ACLU, Congress and the UN .................................................................... 134 6.6. The gradual, partial ‘opening up’ .................................................................................. 139 6.7. Strategies of Legitimization ............................................................................................ 143 6.8. Moral legitimization efforts ............................................................................................ 144 6.9. Legal legitimization efforts ............................................................................................ 152 6.10. Generalized acceptance of targeted killings ................................................................ 161 6.11. Norm change and quasi-secrecy: theoretical implications…………………………. 166 6.12. Alternative explanations: why secrecy happened ........................................................ 170 6.13. Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 172 Chapter Seven: Conclusion 7.1. Erosion of the norm against assassination .................................................................... 174 7.2. Legitimization through quasi-secrecy ............................................................................ 180 List of references .....................................................................................................................
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