Former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, a senior adviser to President Obama's reelection campaign, recently became the first person on Team Obama to address the killing of 16-year-old American citizen Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, Conor Friedersdorf of the The Atlantic reports.
Abdulrahman was the son of New Mexico-born cleric and al-Qaeda propagandist Anwar al-Alwaki. Both were killed in separate drone strikes last year.
A reporter asked Gibbs: "Do you think that the killing of Anwar al-Alwaki's 16-year-old son, who was an American citizen, is justifiable?"
Here is Gibbs' answer:
"I'm not going to get into Anwar al-Alwaki's son … I would suggest that you have a far more responsible father if they're truly concerned about the well being of your children. I don't think becoming an al-Qaeda jihadist terrorist is the best way to go about doing your business."
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a FOIA request for information regarding the legal and factual basis for the targeted killings of the al-Alwakis and another U.S. citizen who was killed with Anwar al-Alwaki.
The video below shows Gibbs being asked about President Obama's secret kill list. The al-Alwaki question is asked at 1:55.
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