CIA Can’t Give Up Drones

The Pentagon has ended its drone program in Yemen after that country’s government got fed up with American drones killing civilians and refused to allow an overt military presence. But the CIA’s drone war continues; not just in Yemen, but in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. The ongoing drone operations are a sign that despite CIA director John Brennan’s announcement that the agency would shift focus, actual change is coming slowly. “The CIA should not be doing traditional military activities,” Brennan said. But political roadblocks have kept that from happening, including interference from lawmakers in both parties who have resisted the shift of the drone operations to the Pentagon.