Gov't Memo: OK to Use Drones to Kill US Citizens

The U.S. government is allowed to use drones to kill dangerous U.S. citizens, according to a secret memo that has now been released to the public.

A federal court made large portions of the Obama administration's 41-page targeted drone strike memo available.

The document argues the U.S. government is justified in using drones to kill American terror suspects overseas. It contends that targeted killings are allowed under a law passed by Congress in 2001, shortly after 9/11.

The administration argues U.S. citizens can be killed if considered "an imminent threat of violent attack against the United States."

But the memo "does not require ... clear evidence that a specific attack on U.S. persons and interests will take place in the immediate future."

The justification was first used to kill Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who was a top al Qaeda plotter and recruiter hiding in Yemen.

The U.S.-born Al-Awlaki was once a cleric at a Virginia mosque and had become a very dangerous terrorist.