us drone strike transparency discrepancies

Us drone strike transparency discrepancies full#
Us drone strike transparency discrepancies series#

But the president did not define the identities of the more than 4,000 other people killed, or specifically address reports that a significant number of the dead – in assessments varying between 400 and nearly 1,000, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism – were civilians. President Obama admitted in May that four US citizens had been killed, three of whom – including 16-year-old Abdulrahman Aal-Awlaki – he admitted were not intended targets. Instead, the White House has again chosen to operate secretly and under rules of its own creation, which may permit killing individuals under a concept of 'imminence' (of threat) that departs radically from all conventional interpretations of the law.Įven more damning is that, in the absence of any commitment to investigating credible allegations of unlawful deaths, the United States appears indifferent to the question of who is actually dying in drone strikes. The White House could clarify this issue better yet, it could move beyond conveniently malleable policy standards and describe how the government applies existing international law. But it expressly does not apply in 'extraordinary circumstances', and since the embassy closures of earlier this month could be interpreted as providing such justification, the memorandum may not be relevant to the latest spate of strikes in Yemen. A handful of bullet-points on the government's 'policy standards' for using lethal force, which the White House released in May concurrently with the president's national security speech, initially appeared to provide some guidance.

Us drone strike transparency discrepancies full#

So, the question of whom the United States believes it can kill in drone strikes remains, as it ever was, full of unknowns. Thus, an unattributed leak to the New York Times on Monday served up a major policy change in the form of a morsel, with little elaboration, that a recent terrorist threat has 'expanded the scope of people we could go after'. Instead of acknowledging the new strikes and describing a coherent policy and legal approach, the government has again chosen to selectively disclose information that raises more questions than it answers. It is time to renew and expand the demand for answers about who is being killed. Past critics of the drone program – ranging from Senator Rand Paul (Republican, Kentucky) to Senator Ron Wyden (Democrat, Oregon) – should take notice. While NSA surveillance has taken center-stage, the government's policy of secrecy and obfuscation on drones persists, too. In fact, since May, the White House has not officially released any new information on drone strikes (though leaks still abound).

Following a major address on national security by President Obama, the government pledged to keep sharing 'as much information as possible'. In late May, the White House released more information about US drone strikes than it ever had before. On drones, secrecy is business as usual – and it carries on.Įarlier this summer, however, there was hope for a different way forward. The US government has refused to officially acknowledge the strikes surge or reports of potentially unlawful deaths – just as it did, for years, refuse to confirm reports of the more than 300 drone strikes in Pakistan.

Us drone strike transparency discrepancies series#

The media estimate that more than 37 people have died in a series of strikes in Yemen.