Declassified Document Shows White House Staff Make Key Decisions About Drone Strikes
A redacted version of a 2013 document that designates guidelines for the Obama administration’s counterterrorism operations, including drone strikes, was declassified on Saturday as a result of a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU first requested the document be made public in the fall of 2013. The administration refused to comply with their request on the the basis of “presidential communications” privilege, the Washington Post reports.
The document, known as “The Playbook,” shows that President Obama must approve the targeting of specific terrorist suspects with drones or other weapons outside of war zones, though there are certain cases in which he does not need to sign off.
The document also states that strikes against “high-value terrorists” can be made “when there is near certainty” that the target is “lawful,” and that the action will not injure or kill non-enemy combatants.
Spencer Ackerman of The Guardian notes, “Much of the section governing strikes against non-‘high-value targets’ remains blacked out in the public version of the playbook.”
According to the document, the White House’s National Security Council staff review “all operational plans” for killing and capturing terrorist suspects.
NSC staff members do not testify before Congress and are not approved by the Senate
