In his first major speech on counterterrorism of his second term, President Obama on Thursday plans to open a new phase in the nation’s long struggle with terrorism by announcing that he is restricting the use of unmanned drone strikes, which have been at the heart of his national security strategy.
Mark Mazzetti, a reporter for The Times who covers the intelligence community and is the author of “The Way of the Knife,†a book about the United States’ use of drones, will provide analysis and context about American drone policy during the president’s speech.
In an address on Thursday at the National Defense University, President Obama is expected to outline changes to the way the United States uses drones. The graphics below help trace the rise and decline of drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen.
This May 2012 analysis shows that though President Obama inherited the drone program, the number of strikes drastically increasedring his first term. In 2009, as terrorist plots increasingly emanated from Yemen, the president began a broader aerial campaign there.
Source: Long War Journal The Times reported on Wednesday that the number of drone strikes has been in decline. “Strikes in Pakistan peaked in 2010 and have fallen sharply since then; their pace in Yemen has slowed to half of last year’s rate; and no strike has been reported in Somalia for more than a year,†wrote The Times’ Scott Shane.
Source: Long War Journal Reasons for the decline may reflect a shift in the administration’s counterterrorism approach, as the contentious debate over their legal basis, precision and reported backlash they have produced in the Muslim world continues.
â€" The New York Times
Readers were invited to ask the national security reporting team of The New York Times questions about drones, via nytimes.com and Twitter, and they responded to selected questions.
â€" The New York Times
