It's been a long time since the last war in ... where was it, Libya? Libya, yes. A good war. And like the iPhone, we apparently need a new version of this war every two years.

The grandfather of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, the U.S. citizen killed by a drone strike in Yemen, is demanding justice. "The government has killed a 16-year-old American boy. Shouldn’t it at least have to explain why?"

According to NBC News, the CIA didn't always know who it was targeting with its drone strikes in Pakistan. Roughly 25 percent of those killed over a 14-month period were listed as “other militants,” meaning the CIA wasn't sure how the person killed was affiliated with terrorist organizations, if they were at all.

Today, at National Defense University, President Obama gave his big national security speech, the one in which he finally acknowledged that his administration has killed four American citizens with drone strikes in foreign lands before saying that it is unconstitutional to kill (most) Americans with drones without due process.

In a speech today, President Obama will announce that he is moving control of drone strikes away from the CIA and to the military, and discuss a possible ending to the global and costly "War on Terror" that has defined United States foreign policy since 2001.

The U.S. government formally—and finally—admitted to killing four American citizens today, one day before President Obama is set to deliver an important speech on national security and counterterrorism issues.

On Tuesday, the US Navy launched a jet-sized drone from an aircraft carrier for the first time. Its new mobility will allow the drone “to be used around the world without needing the permission of other countries to serve as a home base.”

Leave it to Canada to do something nice with drones.

While waiting for bomber facts, Sen. Lindsey Graham has one hand in his pants, dreaming of domestic drones and Gitmo.

A new book reveals that the CIA made a deal with Pakistan that allowed the United States to begin its drone assassination program in exchange for the murder of an enemy of Pakistan. In an excerpt in tomorrow's New York Times, journalist Mark Mazzetti outlines how Pakistan, which was resistant to allowing the CIA to begin killing targets within its borders, asked the CIA in 2004 to kill Taliban-ally Nek Muhammad, in exchange for allowing the CIA to begin its drone strike assassination program in the country. Pakistan would take responsibility for the death of Muhammad, and the CIA would never be mentioned in official accounts of his death.

For about 20 minutes this morning, the top headline on the Drudge Report was "DRONES TO DELIVER NEWSPAPERS." It was a nice bit for Drudge, one that satisfied both his obsession with drones and his obsession with media, and had a good future-shock value for his aging, perpetually terrified audience. It was also, obviously, an April Fool's Day joke.

The Air Force has reversed a policy of reporting drone strikes in Afghanistan and has wiped the information from past reports that were on its website as well. Last October, the Air Force Central Command began publishing reports of the strikes from remote piloted aircraft as part of an effort to "provide more detailed information on RPA ops in Afghanistan." After releasing statistics for each month through January, the February report contained no information regarding drone strikes, and the older reports have each had their drone strike information removed from the website (the Air Force is apparently unfamiliar with the wonders of Archive.org).

Republicans care about due process again! Or, at least, they did for 12 hours yesterday while Kentucky Senator Rand Paul stood on the Senate floor filibustering President Obama's nominee for director of the CIA, John Brennan. And as grossly disingenuous as it is to see people like Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas—seen here in the National Review condemning John Kerry's "flip-flops" and lauding George W. Bush's national security policies—and right-wing pundit Michelle Malkin—who wrote an entire book defending the WWII internment of Japanese Americans—suddenly start caring about the rule of law, at least someone is: only one Democrat, Ron Wyden of Oregon, joined Paul on the floor, and even then admitted that he would vote to confirm Brennan. But the Republican caucus appears to have undergone a remarkable political shift, thanks apparently to the popularity of the filibuster on Twitter, and by the end of the night Paul was joined by the senior senator from Kentucky, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who announced he would oppose Brennan's nomination. Maybe if we can make it trend on Twitter we can get one party to oppose extrajudicial assassination on non-American citizens, too. [NYT | Mother Jones | NRO | BuzzFeeᴅ]

For four hours now, Sen. Rand Paul (R - Ky.) has been filibustering the nomination of John Brennan as CIA director, following through on a threat he'd made earlier this month after Attorney General Eric Holder refused to rule out the use of unmanned drones in targeted assassinations on American soil in "extraordinary circumstances."

The idea of drones over New York City have inspired art projects and a rap song. Now they may be a reality too. The FAA is investigating a report from an Alitalia passenger jet of a drone spotting over Brooklyn, as he approached JFK airport in Queens. "We saw a drone, ad drone aircraft," the pilot told controllers, according to audio played on Good Morning America, below.

In a letter yesterday, President Obama informed Congress that 40 troops, mostly Air Force logistics specialists, have been sent to Niger to establish a new drone base that will run surveillance in west Africa. The drones will support the French-led efforts against extremists in Mali, and is the latest maneuver in a steady US military build-up on the continent.

According to a document found by the Associated Press in Timbuktu, members of al-Qaeda in North Africa were in possession of a fairly detailed instruction manual for avoiding drone attacks. The document, which includes an easy-to-use list, is a copy of a paper reportedly penned by Abdallah bin Muhammad, a senior commander of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. It was apparently left behind by the North African group as they fled French troops last month.

For the first time since 1944, the Pentagon has created a new combat-related medal to award drone pilots. Outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced today that the Distinguished Warfare Medal will be given to those who have a direct impact on combat relations, but don't risk their lives to do so.

National security pundit Glenn Greenwald has an interesting thought experiment in the Guardian today that asks whether Christopher Dorner, the LAPD's suspected "killer cop," should be targeted for drone strike the way other terrorists are in Pakistan and beyond. But while Greenwald's comparisons between foreign and domestic drone attacks work as a fun intellectual pursuit, it's worth noting that, despite what many news outlets are saying, the use of drones in capturing Dorner seems mostly to be a lot of of hype.

If you're looking for a takeaway from White House Counterterrorism Advisor John Brennan's testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, all you need is a line from Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), who wanted to assure Brennan that he would keep questions short.