2013: Obama Insists Drone Strikes Are Perfectly Legal

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered more openness about the secretive drone war pounding Al-Qaeda in Pakistan, a top official said Monday, mounting the firmest defense yet of the program.

In a landmark speech on counter-terrorism "ethics," Obama aide John Brennan insisted the program, the source of sharp tensions between Washington and Islamabad, was legal, ethical, proportional and saved U.S. lives.

The top counter-terrorism official gave the most detailed justification and description of the drone program yet, on the eve of the anniversary of the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a raid in Pakistan by elite special forces.