ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the U.S. policy on drones and domestic and international responses to illustrate a number of considerations for a practice of ethical reflexivity. It examines the most prominent case, found in Dennis Blair's criticism of drone policy following his brief tenure as Director of National Intelligence (DNI) under the Obama administration. The drones provided an attractive and ethical alternative for President Obama's administration to the military engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq, as a foreign policy tool for addressing threats in a wider set of countries, especially Pakistan. The 'War on Terror' could be prosecuted even while conventional troops were gradually withdrawn from Iraq first, and Afghanistan second. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was particularly ambitious with regard to the means used in the War on Terror, including drones, and the 'ugly duckling' in the soon became its primary tool.
