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US to continue 'signature strikes' on people suspected of terrorist links
Source: The Guardian
US to continue 'signature strikes' on people suspected of terrorist links
Senior military officials defend controversial tactic despite US
government admitting it does not always know how many civilians
it kills
Spencer Ackerman in New York
Friday 1 July 2016 23.01 BST
The most controversial tactic of Barack Obama’s drone strikes has survived an internal review intended to reduce civilian deaths: killing people without knowing who they are.
So-called “signature strikes”, targeting people whose behavior is assessed to be similar enough to those of terrorists to mark them for death, will continue, according to senior US officials.
Human-rights groups have long denounced the practice – whose criteria can be as vague as killing “military-aged males” in regions where terrorists operate – as anonymous killing.
Speaking with reporters on Friday after the US released a long-awaited tally of deaths caused by its drone strikes since 2009, senior administration officials indicated they believed contingencies exist which necessitate the retention of signature strikes.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Senior military officials defend controversial tactic despite US
government admitting it does not always know how many civilians
it kills
Spencer Ackerman in New York
Friday 1 July 2016 23.01 BST
The most controversial tactic of Barack Obama’s drone strikes has survived an internal review intended to reduce civilian deaths: killing people without knowing who they are.
So-called “signature strikes”, targeting people whose behavior is assessed to be similar enough to those of terrorists to mark them for death, will continue, according to senior US officials.
Human-rights groups have long denounced the practice – whose criteria can be as vague as killing “military-aged males” in regions where terrorists operate – as anonymous killing.
Speaking with reporters on Friday after the US released a long-awaited tally of deaths caused by its drone strikes since 2009, senior administration officials indicated they believed contingencies exist which necessitate the retention of signature strikes.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/01/obama-continue-signature-strikes-drones-civilian-deaths
