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U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday sought to redefine his administration's counterterrorism policies, announcing new guidelines codifying controversial drone strikes against militant targets, while renewing his pledge to close Guantanamo Bay military detention facility.
Obama made the announcement during a major policy speech delivered at the National Defense University. He said he has signed a Presidential Policy Guidance to codify guidelines, oversight and accountability of drone strikes.
According to Obama, the new rules sought to limit the controversial strikes. In Afghanistan, as U.S. forces complete its drawdown by 2014, "we will no longer have the same need for force protection, and the progress we have made against core al-Qaeda will reduce the need for unmanned strikes."
Beyond Afghanistan, Obama said "Our preference is always to detain, interrogate, and prosecute" individual terrorists, and lethal strikes were only carried out "when there are no other governments capable of effectively addressing the threat." He stressed before any strike is taken, there must be "near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injuredthe highest standard we can set."
U.S. President Barack Obama deliveries a speech at the National Defence University in Washington D.C. on May 23, 2013.(Xinhua/Fang Zhe)
According to the White House, lethal force will only be used to prevent or stop attacks against U.S. persons, and only when capture is not feasible and no other reasonable alternatives exist to address the threat effectively.
Addressing another controversial practice of the war on terror, Obama called on Congress to lift the restrictions on detainee transfers from Guantanamo, while asking the Department of Defense to designate a site in the United States to hold military commissions. He also will appoint an envoy to achieve the transfer of detainees to third countries, while lifting the moratorium on detainee transfers to Yemen.
To demonstrate the difference of opinion on the matter, Obama was repeatedly interrupted by a protester who demanded the immediate closure of Guantanamo. Obama, who tried to act patiently, said although the politics is hard, history will "cast a harsh judgment on this aspect of our fight against terrorism, and those of us who fail to end it."
Obama said the change in policy stemmed from the shifting and evolving threat of terrorism to the United States, as al-Qaeda core was on a path to defeat, al-Qaeda affiliates began to emerge, extremists take foothold in countries like Libya and Syria and home-grown radicalized individuals began to pose real threat.
