Perspectives on Terrorism is an initiative of the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism. Visit website
VOL. IX, Issue 3

The Drone Campaign against Al Qaeda and ISIS Interview with Lt. General David Deptula USAF (Ret.)

The new era of covert drone war began on October 7, 2001–the opening night of Operation Enduring Freedom– America’s response to the Al Qaeda attacks that killed almost 3,000 Americans—with the firing of a Hellfire missile by an MQ-1 Predator in Afghanistan against the Taliban leadership. Since that historic event, Central Command, Air Force, and CIA Predator and Reaper drones have become one of the most effective killers of insurgents, terrorists and enemy combatants in a war that has gradually extended from the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan and the tribal zones of Pakistan to the deserts of Yemen and the battlefields of ISIScontrolled territories in Syria and Iraq.

About ICCT

The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) is a think-and-do tank based in The Hague, Netherlands. We provide research, policy advice, training and other solutions to support better counter-terrorism policies and practices worldwide. We also contribute to the scientific and publi.…