Inspired by The New
York Times’ expose on Obama’s “secret ‘kill list,’” we collected some
of the best pieces of watchdog journalism on Obama’s national security
policies. For a good introduction, and to see how they’ve
evolved since Bush, see our timeline.

One of our resident national security experts, Dafna Linzer, helped curate this list.

ON OBAMA’S WAR ON TERROR

Getting
Bin Laden, New Yorker, August
2011

Twenty-three Navy SEALs, one Pakistani-American
translator and a dog named Cairo: Nicholas Schmidle’s
gripping narrative brings to life the night they killed Bin Laden, as well as
the hunt that led to the end of the man Obama had dubbed a top national
security priority. ProPublica reporter Dafna Linzer
also recommended this Time
article (paywalled) as a
seminal piece on the hunt for Bin Laden.

Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of
Obama’s Principles and Will, New York Times, May 2012

Obama’s hands-on counterterrorism record means
that he, in effect, is “personally overseeing the shadow war with Al Qaeda.”
But some officials criticize his tactics – like a formula for counting
civilian deaths that may significantly lower the actual numbers.

ON DRONES

Inside the Killing Machine, Newsweek, February 2011

In 2011,
at the time of this article’s writing, the American public knew the military
used drones to kill suspected terrorists. But the formal process of deciding
who should be hunted and killed had never been reported – until Tara Mckelvey snagged an exclusive interview with a man at the
CIA who approved these “lethal operations.”

The Rise of the Killer Drones: How
America Goes to War in Secret, Rolling Stone, April 2012In war,
soldiers used to have to point a gun at the enemy to kill. Today, they simply
have to push a button from a station on their base, what some say is like
playing a video games. This piece is one of the most in-depth looks we found on
the rise of the U.S. drone program, and how it’s changed the way we fight. And
for everything else you ever wanted to know about drones, see our guide.

CIA Shifts Focus to Killing Targets, The Washington Post, August 2011

The number of employees at the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center has ballooned from 300 in 2001 to about 2,000 in 2011, representing a fundamental shift in the agency’s focus: from gathering intelligence to operations meant to locate, target and capture or kill.

ON CYBERSECURITY:

Cyber-Intruder Sparks Massive Federal Response–And Debate Over Dealing
With Threats,
Washington Post, December 2011

The military discovered in 2008 that malware,
borne on somebody’s thumb-drive, had infiltrated their classified network. The
resulting investigation set off a battle over the rules of engagement for cyber
warfare, finally restricting the military to defending its own networks and not
crossing into civilian or other federal agencies’ turf.

ON INTELLIGENCE:

Top
Secret America: A Hidden World, Growing Beyond Control, Washington Post, July 2010

Since September 11th, the United States’
intelligence operations have ballooned. An estimated 854,000 people hold
top-security clearances, nearly 1.5 times as many people as live in Washington
D.C., and comprise part of a network so sprawling that it’s sometimes hard for
top officials to keep track of it all.

The NSA Is Building the Country’s Biggest Spy Center (Watch
What You Say), Wired,
March 2012

The National Security Agency’s under-construction data center in Utah
(dubbed, aptly, the Utah Data Center) will cost $2 billion and sprawl over 1
million square feet, more than five times the size of the U.S. Capitol. When
it’s done, slated for September 2013, it will be “the country’s biggest spy
center.” And part of its duties may be to monitor your personal data.

ON PROSECUTING LEAKS:

The
Secret Sharer, New
Yorker, May 2011

Though Obama
trumpeted the value of whistle-blowers when he entered office, he’s also
launched an aggressive crackdown on government leaks. The
case of Thomas Drake, a former senior executive at the National Security
Agency, is a prime example of the tension between whistle-blowers who reveal
wrongdoing and leaks that jeopardize national security.

Sealing Loose Lips: Obama’s Crackdown on Leaks, ProPublica, March 2012

Our
timeline of leak prosecutions under the Espionage Act – and how they’ve
picked up steam under Obama.

ON THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFGHANISTAN

In Yemen, U.S. Airstrikes Breed
Anger, and Sympathy for Al Qaeda, Washington Post, May 2012

The
Obama administration has escalated airstrikes in Yemen against high-ranking al
Qaeda leaders, but is it an effective military strategy in the long run? This
article describes the backlash in Yemen against civilian deaths and what’s seen
as an incursion on their sovereignty.

U.S. Not Reporting All Afghan
Attacks, The Associated Press, April 2012

An A.P. exclusive found the
military doesn’t report non-fatal attacks on coalition troops by Afghan
policemen and soldiers, even though the incidents are an important indication
of the level of mistrust between Afghan and coalition troops. A military
spokesman says this is due to differences in policy between coalition
governments on reporting attacks.

2 Top Lawyers Lost to Obama in Libya
War Policy Debate, New York Times, June 2011

Obama
rejected the views of top Pentagon and Justice Department lawyers when he
decided to continue America’s role in the air war in Libya without
Congressional authorization – a legal, but “extraordinarily rare” move.
According to Dafna, this is one of the most
significant national security stories of Obama’s presidency, having “more to do
with war power and executive authority than anything else.”

Congratulations, you finished! Now test your
knowledge by taking our quiz: Obama vs.
Bush on National Security.