It is traditionally the US military that wages war on behalf of the country. Troops have taken an oath to the US Constitution, and in return receive the authority to kill on behalf of the US government. They are also in uniform, and identifiable as combatants.
But what happens when the CIA is waging the wars instead, through drones whose operators may or may not be US military personnel? wonders Holewinski. 鈥淲hen you then have a civilian agency getting involved in targeting and actually pulling the trigger, that becomes very difficult to square with international law.鈥�
What鈥檚 more, the CIA works in close cooperation with Joint Special Operations Command, which runs 鈥渂lack鈥� special ops like Delta Force and Seal Team 6, 鈥渟o the military is subsumed under this civilian spy agency,鈥� which, she adds, is not asking the same questions the US military asks in the wake of drone strikes in Afghanistan, for example.
鈥淎fter a strike, they look at how much civilian harm they have caused, and how to respond to it. They talk to village elders, they may pay compensation.鈥� But when drone strikes are secret and without US military on the ground to investigate claims, 鈥渘one of this happens,鈥� Holewinski adds.
The few members of Congress who provide oversight and are briefed on such operations, including the speaker of the House of Representatives, the Senate majority leader, and the chairs of both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees 鈥� known as the 鈥淕ang of Eight鈥� 鈥� are not delving into the consequences of drone strikes on civilians, argues Holewinski.
Rather, 鈥渢hey seem to be focused on which targets we鈥檙e going after.鈥� This means they get a briefing along the lines of, 鈥� 鈥極K, we鈥檙e going to go after this guy. Here鈥檚 his bio, here鈥檚 why we think we we should go after him,鈥� 鈥� she adds.
While all of the information about potential drone strikes doesn鈥檛 necessarily need to be public, Congress's Gang of Eight should be weighing 鈥渒illing in the short-term people that we don鈥檛 want to exist anymore, versus the long-term impact of anger on the ground,鈥� Holewinski says. 鈥淚 want Congress to know, as the oversight body that speaks for me, and I want them to delve into the process. What are these drones doing to people on the ground, and are they creating more goodwill, or less?"
