Missile murders cloaked in mystery WHAT is the process that the Obama White House uses when deciding whether to kill an American citizen abroad? And more broadly, how does the US decide to kill anyone using targeted drones strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia? These are the questions civil libertarian groups and legal experts have been demanding that the White House answer for many years. Yet it wasn't until last week that we saw the first spears of light breaking through the wall of secrecy.