ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the emergence of safeguards to protect foreign terror suspects and civilians against indiscriminate “lethal action” in US targeted killing operations abroad. Specifically, the chapter focuses on two safeguards that were introduced by the Obama administration, namely Presidential Policy Guidance: Procedures for Approving Direct Action against Terrorist Targets Located Outside the United States and Areas of Active Hostilities of 2013 and Executive Order 13732: United States Policy on Pre- and Post-Strike Measures to Address Civilian Casualties in US Operations Involving the Use of Force of 2016. The chapter shows that both safeguards were the result of strategic learning, as US policymakers carefully weighed the anticipated costs of introducing safeguards, such as slowing down operational decision-making, against the anticipated benefits of doing so, such as setting standards that could be emulated by other countries.
