Newly Unveiled British Intelligence Documents Detail How The U.S. Works With Britain In Targeting Terrorists For Drone Strikes

A United States Air Force drone. Strikes by the unmanned aircraft have come under fresh scrutiny after President Obama disclosed in April that an attack had killed two Western aid workers held hostage by Al Qaeda in Pakistan. Credit Lt. Col. Leslie Pratt/U.S. Air Force, via Reuters

New York Times: Documents on 2012 Drone Strike Detail How Terrorists Are Targeted

WASHINGTON — Early in 2012, worried that suicide bombers might pass through airline security undetected, American counterterrorism officials ordered a drone strike in Yemen to kill a doctor they believed was working with Al Qaeda to surgically implant explosives in operatives, according to British intelligence documents.

The documents, previously undisclosed, include details about how terrorism suspects are targeted in drone strikes and how strikes can go wrong at times. The documents also show how closely the National Security Agency has worked in Pakistan and Yemen with its British counterpart, Government Communications Headquarters, or G.C.H.Q.

Update #1: New Snowden documents detail how drone strikes target terrorists — and how they go wrong -- Business Insider
Update #2: GCHQ documents raise fresh questions over UK complicity in US drone strikes -- The Guardian

WNU Editor: Americans are use to the idea of U.S. drone strikes against terror targets, but this is going to cause a "stink" in Great Britain.