Is The White House Outsourcing It's Kill And Capture Operations Against Certain Terror Groups?

U.S. soldiers train their counterparts in Ghana, 2011. The next leader of U.S. Africa Command emphasized such training as a fixture for confronting terrorist groups in Africa. Photo: U.S. Army

Outsourcing Lethality -- Micah Zenko, Foreign Policy

When there's a foreign finger on the trigger, is Washington still accountable when innocents die?

"Outsourcing" is a dirty word in Washington these days. But officials are strangely silent when it involves targeted killings. This column has repeatedly focused on the scope, distinction, legality, and strategic effectiveness of America's Third War of non-battlefield targeted killings in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and the Philippines. Among the most widely promulgated criticisms of U.S. drone strikes is the absence of any transparency in decision making, limited congressional and judicial oversight, and the potential for civilian harm without any apparent corrective action. Policymakers and analysts have offered suggestions for how -- over 10 years after they began -- the Obama administration could comprehensively reform its targeted killing policies. Finally, President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder promised some reforms related to transparency "in the months ahead." That was several months ago. Given the Obama administration's refusal to provide witnesses to recent congressional hearings on drones -- or answer clarifying questions posed by journalists and policymakers -- it is likely that forthcoming announcements will fall short of the president's repeated goal of making his, "the most transparent administration in history."

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My Comment: The U.S. outsources some of it's arms deals through third parties .... so why not outsource kill or capture squads. Not surprisingly .... there is zero debate in Congress on this policy, and little if any coverage in the main stream media.

Update: A special thanks to Instapundit for the link. For new visitors to this blog, War News Updates is always updated with a new post on the hour.