--- title: "These are President Obama’s criteria for targeted killings" date: "2018-04-02" modified: "2020-10-21" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/these-are-the-criteria-for-president-obama-to-order-a-drone-strike/" categories: - "Aircraft" - "Tactical" --- # These are President Obama’s criteria for targeted killings ![]() In 2013, the Obama Administration drafted what became known at "the Playbook," an 18-page drone strike policy guideline laying out how the President orders a targeted killing of an enemy combatant abroad. A few days ago, [the administration released a redacted version of the policy]() as a result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union. --- ![]() *An MQ- Reaper remotely piloted aircraft performs aerial maneuvers over Creech Air Force Base, Nev., June 25, 2015. The MQ-9 Reaper is an armed, multi-mission, medium-altitude, long endurance remotely piloted aircraft that is employed primarily as an intelligence-collection asset and secondarily against dynamic execution targets. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Cory D. Payne)* The [Presidential Policy Guidance]() (or PPG, the official name of Obama's "playbook") first place an emphasis on capturing the enemy, instead of raining death from above. If capturing the terrorist (referred to in the PPG as the "HVT," or High-Value Terrorist) is not "feasible," the policy outlines the steps to be taken to designate an HVT for "Lethal Action." ### 1. We know who we're supposed to be killing According to the PPG, only "an individual whose identity is known will be eligible to be targeted." ### 2. They're definitely up to something The strike will be approved if the "individual's activities pose a continuing, imminent threat to U.S. persons." ### 3. We definitely know where the person is U.S. forces have to know with "near-certainty" that an HVT is present. ### 4. Only lawful combatants are hit The attacking drone operator has to have "near certainty that non-combatants will not be injured or killed." ### 5. REDACTED ![]() *President Barack Obama attends a meeting on Afghanistan in the Situation Room in the White House. (White House photo by Pete Souza)* ### 6. Capture isn't a feasible possibility This rule actually only means that capture isn't feasible *at the time of the operation.* So this really just means the U.S. could capture the HVT or just wait and kill it later. ### 7. The HVT's host country is no help The government where the terrorist lives isn't going to do anything about it, so we have to handle it ourselves. ### 8. We really just have to kill this person "No other reasonable alternatives to lethal action exist." At this point, number five might be glaring at you, but there's not even a hint at what the redacted criterion might be. Even the 2013 [PPG summary memo released by the White House]() left out this factoid and any glimmer of its contents. ![]() *President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Jan. 25, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)* Since Obama took office, there have been [373 drone strikes abroad](), with an estimated 4,000 killed. (Up to 966 of those deaths were civilians.) Four Americans have been killed by such drone strikes, but only one – the 2011 targeting of American-born Yemeni cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki – was a planned target. ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()