Drones
312 Articles
Five Questions We Should All Be Asking About the NSA and the US Targeted Killing Program
The Washington Post’s latest piece on NSA surveillance, based on Edward Snowden’s leaked documents, provides a glimpse into the US government’s highly secretive process for…
Al-Qaeda, the Law on Associated Forces and “Belonging to” a Party (did the new UN drones reports get it right?)
[Editor’s note: Kevin Jon Heller responds to Ryan in a Guest Post, and Ryan replies in a subsequent post. A Guest Post by UN Special Rapporteur Christof Heyns also addresses…
UN Drone Strike Inquiry: Summary of the New Interim Report
Today, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and countering terrorism, Ben Emmerson QC, issued an interim report on his international investigation into drone strikes and targeted…
Second Major UN Drones Report Now Publicly Available
The second major UN Report on drones this week is now publicly available — by Ben Emmerson, Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counterterrorism. Just Security’s Sarah…
New UN Report Released; Addresses Legal Controversies in Drone Use
A new UN report on drone strikes and targeted killings by the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions has been published, ahead of a UN General Assembly debate scheduled…
U.S. War in Pakistan (Not the One You Think)
The American public may not feel that it has had a meaningful political debate about going to war in nuclear-armed Pakistan outside the context of drone strikes or the stuff…
Selective Disclosure About Targeted Killing
For several years, the ACLU has been pressing the Obama administration to be more transparent about the targeted-killing program. I’m starting to wonder whether it understands…
Food for Thought on the Effectiveness of Drone Strikes
For those following the drone debates, this new study published last week by the US Army War College Strategic Studies Institute is definitely worth a read. Though I haven’t…
Transparency on Targeted Killings: Promises Made, but Little Progress
Since President Barack Obama’s May 2013 counter-terrorism speech, attention to and criticism of US targeted killings practice and policy has notably dropped off inside the US. …
A New Face in the U.S.-Pakistani Relationship
[Note from Ryan Goodman: It is an honor for us to publish an essay from Ambassador Cameron Munter, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan 2010-2012 and in several other distinguished…
Good Reasons May Exist to Close CIA Drone Program—But Claim that CIA Agents are “Unprivileged Belligerents” is Not One of Them
Senator John McCain has vowed to accelerate the effort to transition control of drone operations from the CIA to the Pentagon, and he will likely have support from top Senate Democrats.…
First Drone Strike Victims Planning to Visit US: Will the US Keep Its Transparency Promises?
Next week – for the first time in the history of the US “targeted killing” drone program – alleged survivors of a drone strike and the family members of a deceased victim…