Why This? Why Now?

At the top of the front page of this morning's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is a reprint of a Washington Post article by Craig Whitlock (“Missteps by U. S. in Africa revealed”) reporting that in 2003, the U. S. had an opportunity to assassinate Mokhtar Belmokhtar, alleged mastermind of last month's attack on an Algerian natural gas facility in which 38 hostages were killed. The attack was “vetoed” by the U. S. ambassador to Mali, Vicki Huddleston.

“I'm really frustrated right now because I think we blew it,” said retired Air Force General Charles Wald, exhibiting perfect 20/20 hindsight. If you read far enough into the article, you find that Ms. Huddleston gave three reasons for blocking the proposed air strike: (1) Belmokhtar had never attacked Americans; (2) ten years ago, he was considered only a “minor figure;” and (3) it was “unclear” whether he was actually in the proposed target area. I'm not a terrorism expert, but those sound like three very good reasons not to bomb somebody. The article, however, presents this as a huge blunder by Ms. Huddleston.

The first thing to note about this article is that it is unlikely to have resulted from an independent investigation by the Post reporter. It is there because somebody leaked it. The Pentagon is proposing to expand American strikes into Africa by unmanned aircraft (drones). The article implies that our only mistake is not doing targeted assassinations of Africans soon enough. This story is a public relations triumph for the Pentagon under any circumstances, but it appears in the context of several recent developments related to American military policy.

• A memo giving a “legal defense” of the American policy of assassinating U.S. citizens suspected of terrorism has been leaked to NBC reporter Michael Isikoff. The defense can be charitably described as inadequate, and raises more questions than it answers. Here is Rachel Maddow interviewing Isikoff. It is well worth watching.
  
  
  
  
• President Obama has claimed the right to unilaterally engage in acts of cyberwarfare (computer sabotage) against American enemies, including the right to carry out preemptive cyberstrikes.
  
  
• The Senate will hold a confirmation hearing Thursday on the President's appointment of John Brennan to head the CIA. Brennan is strongly identified with support for drone strikes against enemy targets. He will almost certainly be questioned about the policy—but probably not very aggressively.

This Just In . . .

The British government has just awarded a $31 million contract to Prox Dynamics of Norway for development of a nano-drone, to be used for surveillance in Afghanistan. The miniature helicopter is four inches long and weighs 16 grams. It is part of a trend toward ever smaller drones.

Use of a nano-drone for surveillance is outrageous enough, but equipping them with powerful nano-bombs is said to be only months away. How long will it be possible to keep these devices out of the hands of private citizens? Will a future U. S. president be assassinated by a nano-drone?