War on terror

CIA wants to expand drone strikes authority

Until now, the Pentagon has had the lead role for conducting air strikes — with drones or other aircraft — against militants in Afghanistan and other conflict zones, such as Somalia and Libya and, to some extent, Yemen. The military publicly acknowledges its strikes, unlike the CIA.

But the CIA’s director, Mike Pompeo, has made a forceful case to Mr. Trump in recent weeks that the Obama-era arrangement needlessly limited the U.S.’s ability to conduct counterterrorism operations, according to the current and former officials, who would not be named discussing internal debates about sensitive information. He has publicly suggested that Mr. Trump favours granting the CIA greater authorities to go after militants, though he has been vague about specifics, nearly all of which are classified.