Obama promised more drone strike transparency. That promise is about to be tested.


In July, the White House made a dual announcement about drone strikes: first, that fewer than 116 civilians have been killed by drones throughout President Obama's entire tenure, a figure independent observers say is far too low to be remotely accurate; second, that Obama signed an executive order mandating greater transparency on civilian casualties going forward, including an annual death toll report.
Now, a coalition of civil liberties and human rights organizations has called on Obama to make good on his pledge. "We write to request that, as part of a robust effort to implement the Executive Order this fall, your administration investigate 10 past drone strikes as well as other strikes where there are credible allegations of harm to civilians," the group said in a letter sent Thursday. The strikes in question took place between 2009 and 2014 in Pakistan and Yemen and are alleged to have killed as many as 41 innocents in a single hit.
In addition to a transparent investigation, the letter asks that the United States take public responsibility for all verified civilian deaths and offer condolence payments to the families of those killed. The Intercept's request for comment on the letter from the National Security Council, which includes Obama and a select group of high-ranking officials who make top-level security decisions, was denied.
Subscribe to 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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
5 inexcusably hilarious cartoons about Ghislaine Maxwell angling for a pardon
Cartoons Artists take on the circle of life, Ghislaine's Island, and more
-
Ozzy Osbourne obituary: heavy metal wildman and lovable reality TV dad
In the Spotlight For Osbourne, metal was 'not the music of hell but rather the music of Earth, not a fantasy but a survival guide'
-
Sudoku medium: August 2, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Trump revives K-12 Presidential Fitness Test
Speed Read The Obama administration phased the test out in 2012, replacing it with a program focused on overall health rather than standardized benchmarks
-
El Salvador scraps term limits, boosting Nayib Bukele
Speed Read New constitutional changes will allow presidents to seek reelection an indefinite number of times
-
Trump assigns tariffs, delays all except on Canada
Speed Read A 35% tariff on many Canadian goods has gone into effect
-
Harris rules out run for California governor
Speed Read The 2024 Democratic presidential nominee ended months of speculation about her plans for the contest
-
Trump sets new tariff rates as deadline nears
Speed Read New tariff rates for South Korea, Brazil and India announced
-
Ghislaine Maxwell: angling for a Trump pardon
Talking Point Convicted sex trafficker's testimony could shed new light on president's links to Jeffrey Epstein
-
Senate confirms Trump loyalist Bove to top court
Speed Read The president's former criminal defense lawyer was narrowly approved to earn a lifetime seat
-
Ghislaine Maxwell offers testimony for immunity
Speed Read The convicted sex trafficker offered to testify to Congress about her relationship with late boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein