Predator Drones and Public Discourse: A Framing Analysis of the Killing of Anwar al-Awlaki

Abstract

This study analyzed the dynamic framing processes that occurred within the public discourse in the United States surrounding the targeted killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, a US citizen, by a CIA drone in Yemen on September 30, 2011. The study examined mainstream media broadcast transcripts and publications, advocacy organization press releases, and government statements to analyze the framing of the drone program in the aftermath of the incident as compared to an earlier strike on a non-US citizen, Baitullah Mehsud. The study found that the killing of al-Awlaki generated a "legality" frame that differs qualitatively from prior discourse that focused on strategic implications of the program. Whereas prior drone strikes produced debate over the strategic utility of drones, the killing of al-Awlaki caused a shift in focus to the legality of drones within the post-9/11 political context. These findings suggest that the killing of a US citizen by the US government created a breach in which previously parallel ideological goals of execution of the war on terror and protection of civil liberties came into contradiction with one another. The introduction of a new frame suggests a shift in the narrative pertaining to the relationship between liberty and security in the context of the war on terror, while also raising questions about contemporary citizenship in a globalizing world.