Obama seeks end to US ‘war on terror’

Cautious welcome to drones speech

WASHINGTON: Twelve years after the “war on terror” began, President Barack Obama wants to pull the United States back from some of the most controversial aspects of its global fight against Islamist militants. In a major policy speech on Thursday, Obama narrowed the scope of the targeted-killing drone campaign against AlQaeda and its allies and took steps toward closing the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba.

He acknowledged the past use of “torture” in US interrogations; expressed remorse over civilian casualties from drone strikes; and said that the Guantanamo detention facility “has become a symbol around the world for an America that flouts the rule of law.”

Though aimed first at a domestic audience, Obama’s speech at Washington’s National Defense University was also the latest milestone in his campaign to reshape the global image of the United States - particularly in the Islamic world.But he faces obstacles from opponents in Congress who will try to block the closure of Guantanamo prison and reject his call to repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force passed right after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks. The law is the legal basis for much of the “war on terror.”

President Obama’s speech on the use of drones and the fate of Guantanamo prisoners was largely welcomed yesterday in two key countries affected by the policies- Pakistan and Yemen.

But Pakistani officials criticized the president for not ending drone strikes in the country altogether, as they have long demanded.

Obama cast drone strikes against Islamic militants as crucial to US counterterrorism efforts but acknowledged in his landmark speech Thursday that they are not a “cure-all.” The president also said he is deeply troubled by civilians unintentionally killed in the strikes and announced more restrictive rules governing the attacks - measures that his advisers said would effectively limit drone use in the future. Obama implored Congress to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba, and tried to jumpstart the process by announcing a fresh push to transfer approved detainees to their home countries and lifting a ban on transfers to Yemen. The end of Yemeni restrictions is key, given that 30 of the 56 prisoners eligible for transfer are Yemeni. —

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama defended America’s drone attacks as legal, effective and necessary in America’s campaign to counter terrorism. But he acknowledged the targeted strikes are no “cure-all” and said Thursday he was haunted by the civilians unintentionally killed. He said he had signed new policy guidelines for the use of drones and said he wanted to find ways to allow additional oversight of the program.

Some questions and answers about the program: Q: What are they?

A: The US has an extensive fleet of remotely piloted vehicles, known as drones, but it relies most heavily for targeted strikes on the Predators and Reapers, which are armed with Hellfire missiles. They are controlled from as far away as the US, but also from bases closer to the war zones, including Djibouti and Sicily. Q: Who conducts drone strikes?

A: The US military has routinely conducted drone strikes in war zones, including a bit more than 500 in Afghanistan last year, an increase over the 2011 number of nearly 300. Those drone strikes are largely known and are part of the military’s warfighting effort. The CIA, meanwhile, conducts its own, more secret drone war, mainly concentrating on strikes in Pakistan’s border region, as well as in Yemen and Somalia. Q: How big is the CIA program?

A: While the government does not disclose details about the classified program, independent groups have collected data on the CIA drone strikes. The best estimates are that the CIA has conducted more than 350 drone strikes in Pakistan since 2004 and fewer than 100 total in Yemen and Somali. US officials have only rarely referred to the agency’s secret drone program publicly, but there is now a shift to transfer authority for drone strikes to the military for all but those conducted in Pakistan and Yemen. Estimates suggest that as many as 3,000 people have been killed by US drones since 2004, the majority in Pakistan. The group New America Foundation estimates that roughly 21 percent of those killed are believed to be non-militants. Q: How will US drone policy change?

A: Obama said the administration has routinely briefed Congress on drone strikes, but that information is often classified, so is not available to the public. Obama pledged Thursday to consider ways to try to increase the oversight of drone strikes outside war zones. And he said he has signed new policy guidance that spells out the guidelines for the use of drones. The policy calls for drone strikes only when the target poses a “continuing and imminent” threat to the American people and when there is no other way to effectively address the threat. The president also said that before any strike is carried out, there must be “near certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured.” Q: What is the administration’s legal rationale for using drones to kill terror suspects, including US citizens, overseas?

A: Administration officials say the basis for the armed drone program derives from the president’s constitutional power to protect the US from imminent attack. The administration has also cited the Authorization for Use of Military Force, which Congress approved shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, as legal backing for strikes against Al-Qaeda and its affiliates. Q: Does Obama have the authority to kill an American citizen on US soil?

A: Attorney General Eric Holder, testifying on Capitol Hill, did not rule out such a possibility but said he could only foresee that happening in an extraordinary circumstance, such as the 9/11 attack or the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Obama said he does not believe it would be constitutional for the government to target and kill any US citizen - with a drone or a shotgun - without due process. He added, “Nor should any president deploy armed drones over US soil.” Q: What does the American public think of the drone program?

A: Most polls show Americans broadly support the use of drones to target suspected terrorists in foreign countries, though support drops somewhat if the target is a US citizen and drops dramatically if they were to be used in the United States. A CBS News/New York Times poll in April found that 70 percent of Americans favor using drones to attack suspected terrorists in foreign countries, while 20 percent opposed it. Republicans were most supportive of drones - 79 percent favor, compared with 70 percent of independents and 64 percent of Democrats.