The Obama administration is pulling back the curtain on drone deaths
President Obama did not start America's drone warfare program, but he greatly ramped up the use of unmanned aerial vehicles to strike targeted militants — and, sometimes, people who were not targets. The number of people killed by U.S. drones, intentionally and accidentally, has been a secret, but the Obama administration said Monday that in the next few weeks, it will release data on combatant and noncombatant drone deaths dating back to the beginning of Obama's first term in 2009.
The drone fatality number is expected to include CIA strikes in Yemen and Pakistan, programs once highly classified, but not drone strikes in "areas of active hostilities" like Iraq and Syria, The Wall Street Journal reports. White House Homeland Security adviser Lisa Monaco announced the new drone policy, explaining the goal was to increase transparency in the U.S. and abroad. "We know that not only is greater transparency the right thing to do, it is the best way to maintain the legitimacy of our counterterrorism actions and the broad support of our allies," she said Monday in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations. She added that from now on, drone deaths will be publicly tallied on an annual basis.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The 8 best TV shows of the 1960sThe standout shows of this decade take viewers from outer space to the Wild West
-
Microdramas are boomingUnder the radar Scroll to watch a whole movie
-
The Olympic timekeepers keeping the Games on trackUnder the Radar Swiss watchmaking giant Omega has been at the finish line of every Olympic Games for nearly 100 years
-
Judge orders Washington slavery exhibit restoredSpeed Read The Trump administration took down displays about slavery at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia
-
Hyatt chair joins growing list of Epstein files losersSpeed Read Thomas Pritzker stepped down as executive chair of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation over his ties with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
-
Bondi, Democrats clash over Epstein in hearingSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi ignored survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and demanded that Democrats apologize to Trump
-
El Paso airspace closure tied to FAA-Pentagon standoffSpeed Read The closure in the Texas border city stemmed from disagreements between the Federal Aviation Administration and Pentagon officials over drone-related tests
-
Judge blocks Trump suit for Michigan voter rollsSpeed Read A Trump-appointed federal judge rejected the administration’s demand for voters’ personal data
