Barack Obama will not tighten the rules governing US drone strikes ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Guardian has learned. Begun under George W Bush, drone strikes were vastly accelerated and codified by Obama beyond officially declared war zones. It is unknown whether Trump will also rely on drone strikes. Observers consider use of drones less significant than the codification of targeted killing itself, whose rules Trump is free to revise. But the secrecy that still surrounds drone strikes – both official and imposed by the hazards of reporting from dangerous places – complicates a more thorough independent accounting.

Source: The Guardian November 15, 2016 12:30 UTC