In a May 2013 speech at the National Defense University, Obama offered assurances that, outside the Afghan war theater, no drone strike would be carried out unless there was “near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured.” Obama also claimed that the US targets only “terrorists who pose a continuing and imminent threat to the American people,” and that it does not launch drone strikes when it has “the ability to capture individual terrorists.”
在 2013年5月的国防大学（National Defense University）演讲中，奥巴马信誓旦旦地表示，在阿富汗战场之外，除非“几乎肯定不会有平民伤亡，”否则就不会实施无人机打击。（总体而言，他的确承认美国无人机打击导致了平民伤亡。）奥巴马还宣称美国的目标只是“不断地对美国人造成紧迫威胁的恐怖分子，”美国不会在具备“捕获个体恐怖分子的能力”的情况下发动无人机打击。