The Drone Papers

On October 15, 2015 The Intercept published a cache of secret documents detailing the inner workings of the U.S. military’s assassination program in Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia. The documents, provided by a whistleblower, offer an unprecedented glimpse into Obama’s drone wars.

The Assassination Complex

The whistleblower who leaked the drone papers believes the public is entitled to know how people are placed on kill lists and assassinated on orders from the president.
By Jeremy Scahill

A Visual Glossary

Decoding the language of covert warfare.
By Josh Begley

The Kill Chain

New details about the secret criteria for drone strikes and how the White House approves targets.
By Cora Currier

Find, Fix, Finish

The tip of the spear in the Obama administration’s ramped up wars in Somalia and Yemen was a special operations task force called TF 48-4.
By Jeremy Scahill

Manhunting in the Hindu Kush

Leaked documents detailing a multi-year U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan reveal the strategic limits and startling human costs of drone warfare.
By Ryan Devereaux

Firing Blind

A secret Pentagon study highlights the chronic flaws in intelligence used for drone strikes in Yemen and Somalia.
By Cora Currier, Peter Maass

The Life and Death of Objective Peckham

For years Bilal el-Berjawi traveled freely from the U.K. to Somalia under the watchful eyes of intelligence services. Then the U.S. killed him with a drone strike.
By Ryan Gallagher