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Getty Obama releases drone strike 'playbook'

President Barack Obama has to personally approve the killing of a U.S. citizen targeted for a lethal drone strike outside combat areas, according to a policy Obama adopted in 2013.

The president also is called upon to approve drone strikes against permanent residents of the U.S. and when "there is a lack of consensus" among agency chiefs about whom to target, but in other cases he is simply "apprised" of the targeting decision, the newly-disclosed document shows.

The presidential policy guidance on drone strikes, often called the drone "playbook," was disclosed in an edited form Friday night in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.

When Obama approved the guidance in May 2013, the White House issued a fact sheet about the policy, but declined to release the document itself—even in a redacted form.

However, a series of decisions from a federal appeals court in New York and from lower court judges have made it more difficult for the government to withhold legal and policy documents when many of the details in them have been disclosed elsewhere, such as in speeches or press releases.

In February, a federal judge in New York demanded to see the policy guidance and related documents in her chambers as part of the ongoing ACLU suit. A few days later the government advised the court that officials had already been engaged in "lengthy" deliberations about releasing the document and had recently decided to do so.

The guidance provides more detail on some of the more controversial aspects of the drone strike policy, such as official claims that the government only uses lethal force when it isn't "feasible" to capture someone alive. The document seems to limit the sweep of that restriction by saying that officials can approve a drone strike if they make "an assessment that capture is not feasible at the time of the operation."

That suggests the U.S. can go forward with a strike even if there's reason to believe it might be possible to capture someone at some later point, perhaps if he transits between one place and another. On the other hand, given that those targeted are considered involved in imminent terrorist activities, a delay could potentially cost lives.

The policy, which refers to placing targets on a list through a "nomination package," shows the extent of bureaucratic hurdles Obama has created around the use of deadly force for alleged terrorists in places like Somalia and Yemen. A future president would be under no obligation to follow the guidance, but Obama and his aides have made clear they hope that the framework will bring a degree of due process that future administrations will leave in place.

However, the document also makes clear that Obama can bypass the process whenever he sees fit, particularly in situations where those in danger of a terrorist attack are not Americans but "another country's persons." It's unclear whether Obama has ever made such exceptions.

The policy also includes procedures for presidentially-approved last-minute variations to a targeting plan when "fleeting opportunities" arise, as well as policies for Congressional notification. Congressional leaders get an update on so-called "high-value targets" at least every three months, although the policy also allows for so-called "signature" strikes where the specific identity of a target isn't known, just his role.

The document includes strict limits intended to limit civilian casualties, but critics say such restrictions don't appear to have been particularly effective, both before and after the policy went into effect.

Of four Americans known to have been killed in U.S. drone strikes, only one—U.S. born cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki—was an intended target. One of those killed, Al-Awlaki's son, was 16 at the time he was killed in a 2011 drone strike in Yemen.

"The PPG provides crucial information about policies that have resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, including hundreds of non-combatants, and about the bureaucracy that the Obama administration has constructed to oversee and implement those policies" ACLU lawyer Jameel Jaffer said in a statement Saturday. "The PPG should have been released three years ago, but its release now will inform an ongoing debate about the lawfulness and wisdom of the government’s counterterrorism policies. The release of the PPG and related documents is also a timely reminder of the breadth of the powers that will soon be in the hands of another president.”

The redactions from the document carry no indication of why information was blacked out. However, government lawyers said in March that they wanted to protect the identities of some people involved in the process so that they would not be the targets of reprisals.