CIA Wants To Expand Its Authority To Use Drone Strikes In Afghanistan And Other War Zones Despite Pentagon Concerns

Mike Pompeo, the C.I.A. director, has made a case to President Trump that Obama-era restrictions on drone strikes needlessly limit the United States’ ability to fight terrorism. Credit Al Drago/The New York Times

New York Times: C.I.A. Wants Authority to Conduct Drone Strikes in Afghanistan for the First Time

WASHINGTON — The C.I.A. is pushing for expanded powers to carry out covert drone strikes in Afghanistan and other active war zones, a proposal that the White House appears to favor despite the misgivings of some at the Pentagon, according to current and former intelligence and military officials.

If approved by President Trump, it would mark the first time the C.I.A. has had such powers in Afghanistan, expanding beyond its existing authority to carry out covert strikes against Al Qaeda and other terrorist targets across the border in Pakistan.

The changes are being weighed as part of a broader push inside the Trump White House to loosen Obama-era restraints on how the C.I.A. and the military fight Islamist militants around the world. The Obama administration imposed the restrictions in part to limit civilian casualties, and the proposed shift has raised concerns among critics that the Trump administration would open the way for broader C.I.A. strikes in such countries as Libya, Somalia and Yemen, where the United States is fighting the Islamic State, Al Qaeda or both.

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More News On The CIA Wanting To Expand Its Authority To Use Drone Strikes In Afghanistan And Other War Zones

CIA pushing to expand authority to use drone strikes -- The Hill
CIA Pushes to Expand Drone Strike Authority Despite Pentagon Concerns - Reports -- Sputnik
CIA Wants Authority to Conduct Drone Strikes in Afghanistan -- Anti-war
The CIA Wants Permission to Kill Terrorists in Afghanistan with Drones, Which Could Endanger US Troops -- Newsweek