The White House on Thursday suggested that the killing of one American and one Italian hostage during a U.S. drone strike on an al Qaeda compound in Pakistan could lead to “changes” in how such operations are conducted.
“It raises legitimate questions about whether additional changes need to be made to those protocols,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said of the drone attack that accidentally killed American Warren Weinstein and Italian aid worker Giovanni Lo Porto in January.
Earlier Thursday, President Obama took responsibility for the botched strike, expressing regret over the American’s death but reminding the public that such incidents are impossible to avoid entirely in times of war.
Much of Obama’s counterterrorism strategy is rooted in an unprecedented drone campaign, particularly in Pakistan.
In a 2013 speech, however, the president announced new limits on the use of drones, suggesting the U.S. needed a smaller footprint in volatile areas than was required in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2011, terrorist attacks.
The White House on Thursday insisted that the botched drone strike did not undermine the agenda Obama outlined in that address.
“The president has absolutely lived up to the principles laid out in that speech,” Earnest said. “There is much greater clarity about how counterterrorism officials can use” drones.
Earnest conceded on Thursday that Obama never actually signed off on the drone strikes in question. Under the administration’s guidelines, the president is not required to approve each individual drone attack.
“There is no evidence,” Earnest said of U.S. officials not following protocols.
Earnest never specifically acknowledged that drones were used in the attack or said exactly how many people were killed. Obama’s top spokesman cited national security reasons for the lack of specifics, but U.S. officials confirmed to the Washington Examiner that the event in question was a drone strike.
According to the White House, American-born al Qaeda member Ahmed Farouq was killed during the same drone strike as Weinstein and Lo Porto. The White House also said that Adam Gadahn, an American who became a prominent member of al Qaeda, was killed in a separate operation.
