White House drafts ‘kill list’ rule book
Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP File Photo
The highly classified program will gain a new set of guidelines.
The secret list the White House uses to determine who to target with a drone strike, known as the 'kill list' -- or 'disposition matrix,' whatever -- is still highly classified, but we know there isn't a hard-and-fast set of rules they follow. Well, it seems like there will be soon.
The New York Times' Scott Shane reports the thought of handing the list over to Mitt Romney worried the President so much that he ordered a set of rules and regulations be done up in case he lost the election:
“There was concern that the levers might no longer be in our hands,” said one official, speaking on condition of anonymity. With a continuing debate about the proper limits of drone strikes, Mr. Obama did not want to leave an “amorphous” program to his successor, the official said.