Remotely piloted aircraft strikes score victories but could backfire in the long run.

• Author: Parsons, Dan

* Less than a week before Farea Al-Muslimi testified on Capitol Hill in April, a missile launched from a U.S. drone struck his home village in Yemen.

Now a journalist based in Sana'a, Yemen, Al-Muslimi testified April 23 that he was "torn between this country I love and the drone above my head." It was the first hearing the Senate Armed Services Committee held on U.S. drone policy.

"Drone strikes are the face of America to Yemenis," he testified. "I have a personal experience of the fear they cause."

Al-Muslimi and his villagers are part of the debate over the use of drones in targeted killings. Also at issue are the legality of such strikes and widening concerns that U.S. action is setting a dangerous precedent for when and how technologically superior nations can and should wage war.

Few dispute the legitimate use of drones for scouting and information gathering in combat zones. Unmanned aircraft of all shapes and sizes have given troops an unmistakable tactical edge in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

But using drones offensively has stirred emotions and brought to light legal concerns that distress foreign policy experts, lawmakers and some members of the American public. The process of choosing targets for drone strikes has been largely shrouded in secrecy while the Central Intelligence Agency continues to fire on militants on sovereign soil.

Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., called the April 23 SASC hearing to weigh the issue and attempt to solicit transparency from the Obama administration about how it chooses targets for drone strikes. The administration declined to send a representative to the hearing. The snub riled Republicans, who worry Obama's policy on targeted killings is so broad and vague that armed unmanned aircraft could potentially be launched against U.S. citizens on American soil.

Since President Obama took office, there have been at least 300 drone strikes inside Pakistan that have caused at least 3,000 deaths and many more casualties, Peter Bergen, director of the national security studies program at the New America Foundation, said during the hearing.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism has counted 13 CIA drone strikes in Pakistan since Jan. 1 that killed between 50 and 100 people.

Bergen said Obama has authorized at least 47 similar attacks in Yemen that caused between 400 and 700 casualties, mostly of low-level operatives loosely tied to al-Qaida. With each authorized strike, there are fewer...