

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.


Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.

John Brennan, nominated by President Obama to be the next head of the CIA, has agreed to exempt CIA drone attacks in Pakistan from a new set of rules that attempts to justify and codify the use of drones to assassinate 'terrorists' around the world, including US citizens.
The classified manual, called a counterterrorism "playbook," sets out new rules with regard to US targeted killings, but it incorporates an exemption that would allow the CIA to continue bombing suspected militants in Pakistan for "less than two years but more than one," the Washington Post reported on Sunday.
[...] The adoption of a formal guide to targeted killing marks a significant -- and to some uncomfortable -- milestone: the institutionalization of a practice that would have seemed anathema to many before the Sept. 11 , 2001, terrorist attacks.
Among the subjects covered in the playbook are the process for adding names to kill lists, the legal principles that govern when U.S. citizens can be targeted overseas and the sequence of approvals required when the CIA or U.S. military conducts drone strikes outside war zones.
* * *
# # #
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |

John Brennan, nominated by President Obama to be the next head of the CIA, has agreed to exempt CIA drone attacks in Pakistan from a new set of rules that attempts to justify and codify the use of drones to assassinate 'terrorists' around the world, including US citizens.
The classified manual, called a counterterrorism "playbook," sets out new rules with regard to US targeted killings, but it incorporates an exemption that would allow the CIA to continue bombing suspected militants in Pakistan for "less than two years but more than one," the Washington Post reported on Sunday.
[...] The adoption of a formal guide to targeted killing marks a significant -- and to some uncomfortable -- milestone: the institutionalization of a practice that would have seemed anathema to many before the Sept. 11 , 2001, terrorist attacks.
Among the subjects covered in the playbook are the process for adding names to kill lists, the legal principles that govern when U.S. citizens can be targeted overseas and the sequence of approvals required when the CIA or U.S. military conducts drone strikes outside war zones.
* * *
# # #

John Brennan, nominated by President Obama to be the next head of the CIA, has agreed to exempt CIA drone attacks in Pakistan from a new set of rules that attempts to justify and codify the use of drones to assassinate 'terrorists' around the world, including US citizens.
The classified manual, called a counterterrorism "playbook," sets out new rules with regard to US targeted killings, but it incorporates an exemption that would allow the CIA to continue bombing suspected militants in Pakistan for "less than two years but more than one," the Washington Post reported on Sunday.
[...] The adoption of a formal guide to targeted killing marks a significant -- and to some uncomfortable -- milestone: the institutionalization of a practice that would have seemed anathema to many before the Sept. 11 , 2001, terrorist attacks.
Among the subjects covered in the playbook are the process for adding names to kill lists, the legal principles that govern when U.S. citizens can be targeted overseas and the sequence of approvals required when the CIA or U.S. military conducts drone strikes outside war zones.
* * *
# # #