US War on Terror Feature: Obama Seeks a "Formal Rule Book" for Drone Attacks

Aftermath of US Drone Strike in AfghanistanFacing the possibility that President Obama might not win a second term, his administration accelerated work in the weeks before the election to develop explicit rules for the targeted killing of terrorists by unmanned drones, so that a new president would inherit clear standards and procedures, according to two administration officials.

The matter may have lost some urgency after Nov. 6. But with more than 300 drone strikes and some 2,500 people killed by the Central Intelligence Agency and the military since Mr. Obama first took office, the administration is still pushing to make the rules formal and resolve internal uncertainty and disagreement about exactly when lethal action is justified.

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US Elections 2012 Special: EA's Live Coverage and Analysis

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0658 GMT: President --- The Victory Speech. President Obama has concluded a rousing victory speech, "We are and forever will be the United States of America....We will continue our journey forward and remind the world why it is that we live in the greatest nation of earth."

0637 GMT: President --- The Victory Speech. President Obama has arrived, with his wife Michelle Obama and daughters, to a wildly-applauding crowd and Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours".

Obama opens, "The path of perfecting our union moves forward. It moves forward because of you. It moves forward because you have reaffirmed the spirit that has triumphed over war and depression."

He continues, "We are one American family and we rise and fall together."

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