White House, not JCS, to coordinate terrorist targets for UAV strikes

White House counterterror Chief John Brennan will coordinate discussions as to which terrorist leaders will be the targets of armed unmanned aircraft strikes, signaling an important change from previous arrangements in which the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff initiated the discussion with other agencies, reports the Associated Press.

The move concentrates authority over the use of deadly force against terrors leaders in the Arab world and elsewhere outside of war zones firmly in the hands of the White House, according to U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not allowed to publicly discuss the classified targeting program.

The process, now about a month old, goes like this: Brennan's staff consults the Defense and State departments and other agencies who should be on the list before it goes to President Obama, the story said.