Drone Program May Shift From CIA to Military

March 20, 2013 1:01 pm

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NEW YORK – A report in The Daily Beast today said that the Obama administration is considering taking targeted killing responsibilities from the CIA and placing them under the control of the military.

“Ending the CIA’s role as a paramilitary killing organization would be an important step in the right direction,” said Hina Shamsi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union National Security Project. “President Obama took the CIA out of the torture and detention business, and it’s past time to do the same with targeted killings. As important as this change would be, the killing program is still wrapped in unwarranted secrecy, and is still unlawful in its scope, dangerous, and unwise. Far greater transparency and accountability for targeted killings must accompany any change of responsibility, and it remains to be seen whether the secretive Joint Special Operations Command will address those concerns.”

More information on the ACLU’s work on targeted killing is at: aclu.org/national-security/targeted-killings

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