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April 30, 2012

U.S. Shifts Policy on Secrecy of Drone Use

Top Adviser Defends Use of Unmanned Planes in Targeted Killings--a Program Widely Discussed but Rarely Acknowledged

By JULIAN E. BARNES

WASHINGTON--The White House moved to lift some of the secrecy from its world-wide drone campaigns, publicly acknowledging in a significant rhetorical shift that the U.S. uses the unmanned planes to conduct targeted killings as a matter of national security.

The targeted-killing campaigns have long been an open secret here. But officials aren't allowed to talk about the campaigns publicly, and a fierce debate has raged within the Obama administration over saying more about them. Human-rights groups also have pressed for a more public accounting.

On Monday, John Brennan, the White House counterterrorism adviser, detailed and defended the campaigns, which are operated by the Central Intelligence Agency and military's Joint Special Operations Command, saying he was speaking out because President Barack Obama has instructed aides to more openly discuss the program's aims.

While explicitly discussing the campaign, Mr. Brennan was cautious in his language, experts noted. He didn't mention the CIA by name and carefully outlined precautions that are taken in the strikes. Still, Mr. Brennan offered one of the most expansive descriptions to date of U.S. targeted-killing programs in a speech two days before the anniversary of the death of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

"In full accordance with the law--and in order to prevent terrorist attacks on the United States and to save American lives--the United States government conducts targeted strikes against specific al Qaeda terrorists, sometimes using remotely piloted aircraft, often referred to publicly as drones," Mr. Brennan said at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars.

In January, Mr. Obama offered a sweeping public defense of the U.S. drone campaigns, saying the unmanned attacks haven't killed a large number of civilians but instead have been cautiously deployed to target terrorists. Even after that, however, officials have remained tight-lipped.

Some White House officials are reluctant to give up the remaining veneer of secrecy, unconvinced that public acknowledgment will win over a growing chorus of critics. Some in the intelligence community also argue that public acknowledgment creates a precedent for exposing covert programs, and makes it more difficult to conduct continuing and future operations.

But officials in the State Department and Pentagon and top officials in the CIA say increased openness could allow the government to more aggressively counter charges that scores of civilians have been killed accidentally in targeted strikes.

Mr. Brennan, building on earlier remarks by lawyers for the State and Defense departments, and Attorney General Eric Holder, emphasized that drones offer the government a remarkable ability to "distinguish more effectively between an al Qaeda terrorist and innocent civilians." He also said the U.S. doesn't engage in the strikes casually, but has a rigorous review process.

The U.S., Mr. Brennan said, doesn't target foot soldiers, uses lethal force only when capture isn't an option and only strikes terrorists who present a continuing threat to the U.S. "We are not seeking vengeance," he said.

National-security scholars said they don't expect the administration to go much further in discussing specific strikes. "They are trying to shed as much light as they can without shedding too much light," said Robert Chesney, a law professor at the University of Texas law school. "They have gone a remarkable distance in the past two years."

The American Civil Liberties Union in February filed suit in New York seeking the government's legal documents that justify the targeted killing program. Last week Justice Department lawyers requested an extension of time to respond, saying the "government's position is being deliberated at the highest level of the executive branch."

On Monday, Pakistan's government condemned a Sunday drone strike and officials said the country is considering pulling out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Chicago in protest. Countries attending the conference on May 20-21 are set to discuss the drawdown of international troops from Afghanistan beginning in 2014. The drone hit an abandoned girls' school in North Waziristan, a tribal region that abuts Afghanistan and is used by militants to stage attacks on U.S. troops.

--Adam Entous, Siobhan Gorman and Tom Wright contributed to this article.