Chekhov's drones

"The tight leash"

Secrecy, and the fiction of it

Law without limits

The documents. February 19, 2010, Office of Legal Counsel memorandum, "Lethal operation against Shaykh Anwar Aulaqi xxxxxxxxxxxx " ; July 16, 2010, Office of Legal Counsel memorandum, "Applicability of federal criminal laws and the Constitution to contemplated lethal operations against Shaykh Anwar al-Aulaqi" ; March 10, 2011, remarks of Harold Hongju Koh at the annual meeting of the American Society of International Law, "The Obama administration and international law" ; May 25, 2011, Justice Department white paper, "Legality of a lethal operation by the Central Intelligence Agency against a U.S. citizen xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" ; September 16, 2011, remarks of John O. Brennan at Harvard Law School, "Strengthening our security by adhering to our values and laws" ; November 8, 2011, Justice Department white paper, "Lawfulness of a lethal operation directed against a U.S. citizen who is a senior operational leader of al-Qa'ida or an associated force" ; March 5, 2012, remarks of Eric Holder at Northwestern University School of Law ; April 30, 2012, remarks of John O. Brennan at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, "The ethics and efficacy of the President's counterterrorism strategy" ; May 22, 2013, letter from Attorney General Eric Holder to Hon. Patrick J. Leahy ; May 22, 2013, Presidential policy guidance, "Procedures for approving direct action against terrorist targets located outside the United States and areas of active hostilities" ; May 23, 2013, fact sheet, "U.S. policy standards and procedures for the use of force in counterterrorism operations outside the United States and areas of active hostilities" ; May 23, 2013, remarks of Barack Obama at the National Defense University ; April 1, 2016, remarks of Brian J. Egan at the annual meeting of the American Society of International Law, "International law, legal diplomacy, and the counter-ISIL campaign" ; July 1, 2016, fact sheet, "Executive order on the U.S. policy on pre & post-strike measures to address civilian casualties in the U.S. operations involving the use of force & the DNI release of aggregate data on strikes outside areas of active hostilities" ; July 1, 2016, report of the Director of National Intelligence, "Summary of information regarding U.S. counterterrorism strikes outside areas of active hostilities" ; July 1, 2016, executive order, "United States policy on pre- and post-strike measures to address civilian casualties in U.S. operations involving the use of force".