Barack Obama hopes to leave behind settled rules on when drones can be used

I think this a positive step from the Obama administration towards some form of transparency, especially when you consider what this transparency is about. While the timing isn’t perfect, at least he is creating some kind of route to the truth.

On the drones themselves, I don’t think they stretch the laws of war, as much as they break the old laws. Drone use should occupy its own section within the conditions of war, rather than be confined to laws created when drones were not even imaginable.

Considering 19 countries are estimated to possess armed drones, including Iraq and Iran, some clearer rules and norms about their use are overdue.

 

Source: The queen and her drones