Covert drone strikes are one of President Obama's key national security policies. He has already authorized 283 strikes in Pakistan, six times more than the number during President George W. Bush's eight years in office. As a result, the number of estimated deaths from the Obama administration's drone strikes is more than four times what it was during the Bush administration -- somewhere between 1,494 and 2,618. Under Obama, the drone campaign, which during the Bush administration had put emphasis on killing significant members of al Qaeda, has undergone a quiet and unheralded shift to focus increasingly on killing Taliban foot soldiers.
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Peter Bergen: Obama's drone campaign shifts to Taliban militants, not al Qaeda leaders
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Bergen: Obama has stepped-up drone attacks as a key part of national security policy
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Drone strikes deeply resented in Pakistan, he says, but campaign there is waning
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Yemen in the sights now, he says, as Obama ahead of Romney on national security
This year alone, Obama has authorized around 30 drone strikes in Yemen, while @placeholder only launched one drone attack there during his two terms in office.