> Secret orders may be a necessary evil; but secret legal justifications? What could that even mean??
The argument is that by disclosing the legal justification you give information to the targets. For example, if the argument for allowing a drone killing required an explicit threat to commit a violent crime by the target, targets could know what to keep their mouths shut about in order to avoid qualifying. It's a weak argument. But hey, maybe they can keep that argument secret too and then no one will be able to challenge it.
The argument is that by disclosing the legal justification you give information to the targets. For example, if the argument for allowing a drone killing required an explicit threat to commit a violent crime by the target, targets could know what to keep their mouths shut about in order to avoid qualifying. It's a weak argument. But hey, maybe they can keep that argument secret too and then no one will be able to challenge it.