A high court in Pakistan has found that United States drone strikes carried out in Pakistan by the CIA are war crimes, which are “absolutely illegal” and a “blatant violation” of Pakistan’s state sovereignty. The decision comes in a lawsuit filed by the Foundation for Fundamental Rights (FFR), a legal charity in Islamabad, which sued [...]

A Senate subcommittee held a much-anticipated hearing on drones and the United States government’s “targeted killing” policies this afternoon. One of the witnesses called to testify was retired US Air Force colonel, Martha McSally. McSally has a background in “targeting procedures,” drones and “national security expertise.” She also served as Chief of Current Operations at [...]

UPDATE – 6:25 PM EST Drone hearing – first ever by Senate – adjourned. UPDATE – 6:24 PM EST Sen. Mike Lee is the first to ask about the concerns that people have if Congress establishes a court modeled off the secret FISA court to provide oversight to “targeted killings.” UPDATE – 6:10 PM EST Still going: Rosa [...]

Journalist and national security correspondent for The Nation, Jeremy Scahill, appeared on “Democracy Now!” this morning for the entire program to discuss his project, Dirty Wars, which explores the United States’ global assassination program. The project consists of a book and film. The book was released today. The film has been screening at film festivals and events [...]

Ten human rights groups have sent a letter to President Barack Obama on “shared concerns” related to the “targeted killing” policies of his administration. The letter also makes recommendations the Obama administration can take to make policies accountable and transparent. The organizations call for the public disclosure of “targeted killing standards and criteria.” They urge [...]

A new Gallup poll presents the latest on Americans’ views on drone use by the United States government. The main question asked was the following: A clear majority now appears to oppose drone strikes on US soil while a clear majority still favors drone strikes against suspected terrorists abroad. In reaction Guardian columnist explored why Americans [...]

A federal appeals court has ruled the CIA cannot continue to deny in court that it has no “intelligence interest” in drones strikes carried out by the United States government. The appeals court’s ruling reversed a lower court decision, which found the CIA did not have to acknowledge it had any records on drone strikes. [...]

Sourced to current and former legal and counterterrorism officials in the United States government, the New York Times published a story on Sunday on the killing of US-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who was targeted by a CIA drone without charge or trial on September 30, 2011. Much of the material in the story from anonymous individuals [...]

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai ordered United States special forces to leave the Maidan Wardak province after reports of units engaging in the torture and disappearing of Afghan civilians.The order came on February 24 and was immediately followed by the US military rejecting the allegations. Leaders in the province issued the order in response to Afghans [...]

President Barack Obama’s administration, according to the New York Times, is reportedly in talks with Republicans on providing more information on the attack on a US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. Administration officials hope this will secure enough votes so John Brennan can be confirmed to the position of CIA chief without the administration having [...]