US to release secret 2011 memo justifying drone strikes against own citizens overseas

The US Justice Department is reportedly planning to release a secret 2011 memo justifying drone strikes against American terrorism suspects overseas.

A US official said that the decision has been made in the wake of extensive pressure on the administration.

The official said that the department was contemplating whether to appeal a court order to disclose the memo, but decided against it.

The Justice department came up with the decision on the eve of a Senate vote on US

president Barack Obama's nomination of David J. Barron, one of the memo's authors, to a federal appeals court judgeship, the Washington Times reported.

Earlier, a federal court had passed a ruling that the CIA, the Defense Department and the Justice Department was not required to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests for documents related to targeted drone killings of US citizens.

Meanwhile, speaking at National Defense University, Obama said that the civilian deaths that have resulted from drone strikes haunt him, but "the unspeakable loss" is better than not acting at all, the report said.