Game of Drones: The president and the White House fly “Events of great consequence often spring from trifling circumstances.” In his first three years, Obama unleashed 268 covert drone strikes, five times the total George W. Bush ordered during his eight years in office. All told, drones have been used to kill more than 3,000 people designated as terrorists, including at least four U.S. citizens. In the process, according to human rights groups, they have also claimed the lives of more than 800 civilians. Obama’s drone program, in fact, amounts to the largest unmanned aerial offensive ever conducted in military history; never have so few killed so many by remote control. This is Part One of the story of America’s 44th president and his Chair Force.
