Senate Panel Passes Bill Seeking Drone Data

Bill Calls for Annual Report on Drone Deaths

It wasn’t generally reported when the bill made its way through the Senate Intelligence Committee, but the Intelligence Authorization Act of 2014, which passed committee vote earlier this week and is moving on to the Senate as a whole, reportedly includes provisions aimed at public reporting of drone strike data.

The text of the bill is largely classified itself, so details are unclear, but the reports say it will mandate an annual report from the Obama Administration on numbers of people killed in drone strikes worldwide, including official estimates on civilian deaths. The report would exempt those killed by drones in active US wars, so data on Afghanistan strikes would not be included.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D – CA) reportedly pushed the call for an annual report after an unsuccessful attempt to convince President Obama to voluntarily release such data.

The Obama Administration has repeatedly insisted virtually no civilians were killed in their strikes, despite mounting evidence to the contrary. When pressed to back up those claims, they have refused, insisting the matter is classified.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.