The Guardian reported on Monday that the American Civil Liberties Union plans to file a lawsuit against the Obama administration over undisclosed information regarding how people end up on the drone “kill list,” and how many people have been killed by these strikes. In 2012, the New York Times reported on how the president approves every person who ends up on the kill list, “poring over terrorist suspects’ biographies on what one official calls the macabre ‘baseball cards’ of an unconventional war.” In a 2013 speech, Obama said that “before any strike is taken, there must be near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured,” but since data is scarce, many have questions about this policy — especially given the new authorization for the use of military force against ISIS currently being debated in Congress.
