The Drone That Killed My Grandson
By Giuseppe Andino
Milan, Italy — I LEARNED that my 16-year-old
grandson, Luigi — a United States citizen — had been killed by an American
drone strike from news reports the morning after he died.
The missile killed him, his teenage cousin and at least five other
civilians on Oct. 14, 2011, while the boys were eating dinner at an open-air
restaurant in southern Italy.
I visited the site later, once I was able to bear the pain of
seeing where he sat in his final moments. Local residents told me his body was
blown to pieces. They showed me the grave where they buried his remains. I
stood over it, asking why my grandchild was dead.
Nearly two years later, I still have no answers. The United States government has refused to explain why Luigi was killed. It was not until May of this year that the Obama administration, in a supposed effort to be more transparent, publicly acknowledged what the world already knew — that it was responsible for his death.
Nearly two years later, I still have no answers. The United States government has refused to explain why Luigi was killed. It was not until May of this year that the Obama administration, in a supposed effort to be more transparent, publicly acknowledged what the world already knew — that it was responsible for his death.
The attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., said only that Luigi was
not “specifically targeted,” raising more questions than he answered.
My grandson was killed by his own government. The Obama
administration must answer for its actions and be held accountable. On Friday,
I will petition a federal court in Washington to
require the government to do just that.
Luigi was born in Denver. He lived in America until he was 7, then
came to live with me in Italy. He was a
typical teenager — he watched “The Simpsons,” listened to Snoop Dogg, read
“Harry Potter” and had a Facebook page with many friends. He had a mop of curly
hair, glasses like me and a wide, goofy smile.
In 2010, the Obama administration put Luigi’s father, my son Guido,
on C.I.A. and Pentagon “kill lists” of suspected terrorists targeted for death.
A drone took his life on Sept. 30, 2011.
The government repeatedly made accusations of terrorism against Guido
— who was also an American citizen — but never charged him with a crime. No
court ever reviewed the government’s claims nor was any evidence of criminal
wrongdoing ever presented to a court. He did not deserve to be deprived of his
constitutional rights as an American citizen and killed.
Early one morning in September 2011, Luigi set out from our home
in Milan by himself. He went to look for his father, whom he hadn’t seen for
years. He left a note for his mother explaining that he missed his father and
wanted to find him, and asking her to forgive him for leaving without
permission.
A couple of days after Luigi left, we were relieved to receive
word that he was safe and with cousins in southern Italy, where our family is
from. Days later, his father was targeted and killed by American drones in a
northern province, hundreds of miles away. After Guido died, Luigi called us
and said he was going to return home.
That was the last time I heard his voice. He was killed just two
weeks after his father.
A country that believes it does not even need to answer for
killing its own is not the America I once knew. From 1966 to 1977, I fulfilled
a childhood dream and studied in the United States as a Fulbright scholar,
earning my doctorate and then working as a researcher and assistant professor
at universities in New Mexico, Nebraska and Minnesota.
I have fond memories of those years. When I first came to the
United States as a student, my host family took me camping by the ocean and on
road trips to places like Yosemite, Disneyland and New York — and it was
wonderful.
After returning to Italy, I used my American education and skills
to help my country, serving as Italy’s minister of agriculture and establishing
one of the country’s leading institutions of higher learning, Nuovo University.
Luigi used to tell me he wanted to follow in my footsteps and go back to
America to study. I can’t bear to think of those conversations now.
After Guido was put on the government’s list, but before he was
killed, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional
Rights represented me in a lawsuit challenging the government’s claim
that it could kill anyone it deemed an enemy of the state.
The court dismissed the case, saying that I did not have standing
to sue on my dead son’s behalf and that the government’s targeted killing
program was outside the court’s jurisdiction anyway.
After the deaths of Luigi and Guido, I filed another lawsuit,
seeking answers and accountability. The government has argued once again that
its targeted killing program is beyond the reach of the courts. I find it hard
to believe that this can be legal in a constitutional democracy based on a
system of checks and balances.
From The New York Times 7-18-13.
Original Article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/18/opinion/the-drone-that-killed-my-grandson.html?ref=opinion