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The Pennsylvania State University the Graduate School School Of The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School School of Public Affairs KILLER BUREAUCRACY: A CASE STUDY OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT’S TARGETED KILLING PROGRAM A Dissertation in Public Administration by Gregory S. McNeal © 2013 Gregory S. McNeal Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2013 The dissertation of Gregory S. McNeal was reviewed and approved* by the following: Jeremy Plant Professor of Public Administration Dissertation Adviser Chair of Committee Steven Peterson Professor of Public Policy Director of the Graduate Program Bing Ran Associate Professor of Public Administration Amy Gaudion Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. ii ABSTRACT This dissertation is a comprehensive examination of the U.S. practice of targeted killings. The dissertation makes two major contributions: 1) it provides the first qualitative empirical accounting of the targeted killing process, beginning with the creation of kill-lists extending through the execution of targeted strikes; 2) it provides a robust analytical framework for assessing the accountability mechanisms associated with those processes. The dissertation begins by reporting the results of a case study that began with a review of hundreds of pages of military policy memoranda, disclosures of government policies through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests by NGOs, filings in court documents, public statements by military and intelligence officials, and descriptive accounts reported by the press and depicted in non-fiction books. These findings were supplemented by observing and reviewing aspects of the official training for individuals involved in targeted killings. These research techniques resulted in a richly detailed depiction of the targeted killing process, the first of its kind to appear in any single publication. After explaining how targeted killings are conducted, the dissertation shifts from the descriptive to the normative, setting out an analytical framework drawn from the governance literature that assesses accountability along two dimensions, creating four accountability mechanisms. After setting forth the analytical framework, it is applied to the targeted killing program. The dissertation concludes with accountability reforms that could be implemented based on the specified framework. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES..................................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................. vii CHAPTER 1: Introduction to the Study ................................................................................... 1 I. Why Is This Study Necessary? .......................................................................................................................................... 2 II. Purpose Statement ................................................................................................................................................................ 5 III. Nature of the Study and Overview of the Dissertation ........................................................................................... 7 IV. Methodology ..................................................................................................................................................................... 10 V. Research Questions ........................................................................................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER 2: The Literature on Accountability ....................................................................... 14 I. Striking the Correct Balance in Accountability and Governance. ...................................................................... 16 II. Accountability As A Virtue Versus Accountability As A Mechanism ........................................................... 20 III. Complex Accountability Schemes and the Perils of Multiple Accountability ............................................ 22 IV. Five Virtues of Accountability .................................................................................................................................... 24 V. Does Performance Measurement Actually Improve Accountability? ............................................................. 30 VI. The Accessibility Critique of the Romzek and Dubnick Political Accountability Mechanism. ........... 32 VII. Accountability Institutions and Information in the Policy-Making Process .............................................. 32 VIII. Norm Proliferation and Accountability Within Organizations ..................................................................... 37 IX. Blame Avoidance and Accountability ...................................................................................................................... 38 X. The Romzek and Dubnick Accountability Framework ........................................................................................ 43 CHAPTER 3: The Killer Bureaucracy: A Case Study ................................................................ 49 I. The Legal Basis for Targeted Killings ......................................................................................................................... 49 A. Domestic Legal Foundation ........................................................................................................................................... 50 B. International Legal Foundation ................................................................................................................................... 56 C. Categories of Targets ........................................................................................................................................................ 64 II. It Takes A Bureaucracy to Make A Kill List ............................................................................................................ 64 A. How Kill Lists Are Made ................................................................................................................................................ 66 B. Implications for the Accountability Debate ........................................................................................................... 101 III. Executing a Targeted Killing ..................................................................................................................................... 102 A. The Law of Armed Conflict in the Context of Targeted Killing ...................................................................... 105 B. Accountability Problems and Opportunities ......................................................................................................... 134 CHAPTER 4: Accountability in the Targeted Killing Process .................................................. 141 I. Mechanisms of Accountability and Control in Targeted Killings .................................................................... 141 II. Legal Accountability and Targeted Killings ......................................................................................................... 149 A. Judicial Review of targeting decisions: Al-Aulaqi and El-Shifa ................................................................... 150 B APA foreign affairs exception ...................................................................................................................................... 156 C. International Legal Investigations ............................................................................................................................ 157 D. Criminal Prosecution of Military and CIA Personnel ...................................................................................... 159 IV. Political Accountability and Targeted Killings .................................................................................................... 160 A. Congressional Oversight ............................................................................................................................................... 161 iv B. Presidential Politics ............................................................................................................................................................. 171 C. International Political Constraints ................................................................................................................................. 175 V. Bureaucratic Accountability and Targeted Killings ............................................................................................. 177 VI. Professional Accountability and Targeted Killings ............................................................................................ 181 VII. Accountability Lessons .............................................................................................................................................. 184 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTED REFORMS ............................................................ 185 A. Defend the Process. ......................................................................................................................................................... 185 B. Use Performance Reporting to Encourage Good Behavior ............................................................................... 186 C. Publish Targeting Criteria ............................................................................................................................................
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