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Pentagon to take over some CIA drone operations : sources
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/21/us-usa-drones-idUSBRE94K03720130521Pentagon to take over some CIA drone operations : sources
By Tabassum Zakaria and Mark Hosenball
WASHINGTON | Mon May 20, 2013 9:35pm EDT
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama's administration has decided to give the Pentagon control of some drone operations against terrorism suspects overseas that are currently run by the CIA, several U.S. government sources said on Monday.
Obama has pledged more transparency on controversial counterterrorism programs, and giving the Pentagon the responsibility for part of the drone program could open it to greater congressional oversight.
Obama will make a speech on Thursday at the National Defense University in Washington that will include discussion of the government's use of drones as a counterterrorism tool. It is unclear whether he will announce the drone program shift in that speech or separately.
Four U.S. government sources told Reuters that the decision had been made to shift the CIA's drone operations to the Pentagon, and some of them said it would occur in stages.