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IPFS News Link • Obama Administration

MITCHELL: Obama making up drone rules as he goes

• http://www.washingtontimes.com, By Allyson Mitchel
    The Obama administration has not yet answered concerns regarding the secrecy, legality and efficacy of the drone warfare program. During the presidential elections, to avoid leaving business unfinished, a last-minute effort surfaced in the White House to create a secret rule book for targeted killing. Although Barack Obama retook the White House, the rule book is still being written, and the American people must work quickly to bring drone warfare out of the darkness and into public view. There are many reasons for this.

The first concern is secrecy. Drone strikes and targeted kill lists are highly classified by the U.S. military and Central Intelligence Agency. This makes it difficult to discern the true effects of their use in warfare. Keeping all the details in the shadows also creates confusion among media outlets and human rights organizations, which are attempting to calculate precise casualty statistics.