Signature Strikes

That's what drone strikes against people whose identities are unknown - but believed to be persons of suspicious behavior or other “signatures” - are called.  There are a fair number of these strikes, some believe that most of the drone strikes are of this type.  The problem is that some, if not most, of these strikes have killed civilians with no connection to terrorism.

Senator McCain asks, “How can the Administration be certain it is not killing civilians in areas, like many parts of Yemen and Pakistan, where virtually all men, including civilians, carry weapons?”

Our former Ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron Munter, applies the reasonable man standard which is “a male between the ages of 20 and 40. My feeling is one man’s combatant is another man’s – well, a chump who went to a meeting.”