Un-intelligent move by Trump
KOs Bam rule on reporting drone strike deaths
President Trump — without explanation — signed an executive order Wednesday that rescinds an Obama-era rule mandating U.S. intelligence agencies publicly disclose the number of civilians killed in drone strikes and other attacks targeting terrorists in nonwar zones.
The surprise order, quietly rolled out by the White House without a formal press release, states the national intelligence director is no longer required to issue “an unclassified summary of the number of strikes undertaken by the United States government against terrorist targets outside areas of active hostilities.”
The director also doesn't need to report “combatant and noncombatant deaths resulting from those strikes,” according to the order, which revokes thenPresident Barack Obama's 2016 executive action requiring U.S. intelligence agencies to issue an annual report on the number of casualties caused by covert American military actions.
Obama's order came in response to widespread criticism of his administration's use of drone strikes in countries such as Pakistan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen.
Trump's abrupt move angered national security watchdogs, who considered it part of his administration's disregard for transparency and civilian casualties caused by military strikes.
But a spokesman for Trump's National Security Council downplayed such concerns, called the Obamaera rule unnecessary and claimed the administration is “fully committed” to “minimizing, to the greatest extent possible, civilian causalities.”
“This action eliminates superfluous reporting requirements, requirements that do not improve government transparency, but rather distract our intelligence professionals from their primary mission,” the spokesman said.
Mark Zaid, a national security lawyer in Washington, disagrees. “Trump's latest executive order exemplifies the administration's view that the United States does not answer to international criticism,” Zaid told the Daily News. “This requirement was to ensure transparency and accountability, rather than obstruct our efforts, and upheld our respected place in the international community.”
The White House refused to release the annual civilian casualties report last year and Trump's order had been widely expected, as the administration was facing a May 1 deadline to deliver a second assessment.