S.S MIRZA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
OBAMA 2.O / DRONE WARFARE
cation for the killings and in how
the strikes are conducted.
Secrecy is a key concern. The
administration has never explained why drone strikes — and
not, say, infantry attacks in Afghanistan — must be secret. Yet
with such a highly classified program, there is no effective independent confirmation of the administration’s assertions that the
strikes comply with domestic and
HUFFINGTON
01.27.13
international law. Strike packages
are assembled by the CIA and the
military’s Joint Special Operations Command, whose role has
grown from its initial involvement
managing drone strikes in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The material, including identification of the targets, justification
for the strikes, estimates of potential civilian casualties and assessments of the impact on the local
community, are vetted by lawyers
and officials at the Pentagon and
White House — in secret.
Pakistani
demonstrators shout
anti-U.S.
slogans
during a
protest
against drone
attacks in the
country’s
tribal areas.