Huffington Magazine Issue 33 | Page 75

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.