Despite Mr Obama’s insistence that drones could precisely target America’s enemies, the rising volume of strikes ensured civilian casualties rose also.With up to 560 civilian deaths in Pakistan alone from 2009 to 2011, the UN and civil society called for reform.Guidance issued by the White House in 2013 attempted to place limits on the lethality of the drone campaign beyond Afghanistan and Iraq.The document pledged strikes would not occur without a “near certainty” that non-terrorists would not be killed.It helped stem the worst excesses: by 2016, strikes caused fewer than ten civilian deaths in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen combined.On the battlefield in Afghanistan, Iraq and, after 2014, Syria, military lawyers counselled commanders on targeting decisions―above a certain threshold for predicted civilian casualties, a strike would require permission from higher authorities.Mr Obama expressed hope that this “legal architecture” could ensure “any president’s reined in.”President Donald Trump easily discarded Mr Obama’s rules in his first year in office, giving commanders greater flexibility in choosing their targets.
