article_snippet.sent: Obama secretly granted CIA CIA an exemption relaxing restrictions on drone strikes in Pakistan after enacting more stringent rules in 2013 to reduce the risk of civilian casualties, an exemption relaxing restrictions on drone strikes in Pakistan was revealed today.
article_snippet.sent: According to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the story Monday citing current and former government officials, Obama gave the spy agency a pass on providing proof that intended targets of drone strikes posed an imminent threat to the US.
article_snippet.sent: Had CIA CIA been subjected to the same stringent rules as other agencies, argues the article, the January drone strike that killed two hostages, one of two hostages an American, could have been postponed or even prevented entirely.
article_snippet.sent: President Obama, seen here April 23 addressing the death of the two captives, reportedly has granted CIA a waiver exempting the spy agency from providing proof of imminent threat to the US ahead of planned drone strikes .
article_snippet.sent: Without Obama's waiver, CIA operatives would have been forced to gather additional information and surveillance data on the al Qaeda-linked militants targeted in the January 15 strike, which may have delayed it, possibly sparing the lives of Dr Warren Weinstein, a 73-year-old economic adviser from the US, and 39-year-old Italian aid worker Giovanni Lo Porto.
article_snippet.sent: CIA drone operations are broadly divided into two distinct categories: 'signature strikes' and 'kill list' strikes, according to the Journal.
article_snippet.sent: the Journal would go after specific targets if the Journal are present on the kill list, but President Obama has to personally sign off on each such operation.
article_snippet.sent: Signature strikes, however, can be carried out against any suspected enemy combatants and are not subjected to President Obama's approval.
article_snippet.sent: According to the paper, in 2013 President Obama endorsed a set of restrictions aimed at eliminating 'signature strikes' altogether in order to reduce the number of civilian deaths, but unnamed officials say many of the rules have yet to be implemented.
highlights_snippet.sent: Obama put in place tougher rules on drone strikes in 2013 to cut down on civilian deaths, but CIA got an exemption .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: President must sign off on drone strikes targeting suspects on 'kill list,' but operations against other suspected militants don't require his approval .
  