Drone strikes --- particularly how the U.S. uses them to attack targets abroad figured prominently into the first major foreign policy speech of President Barack Obama's second term.
He began by unveiling new guidelines that would require greater scrutiny for their use, while acknowledging pitfalls.
SOUNDBITE: U.S. Preisdent Barack Obama saying:
"The very precision of drones strikes, and the necessary secrecy involved in such actions can end up shielding our government from the public scrutiny that a troop deployment invites."
While the president also acknowledged civilian casualties and that four American had been killed in attacks since 2009, he defended the drone strike that klilled militant cleric Anwar Awlaki.
SOUNDBITE: U.S. Preisdent Barack Obama saying:
"Let us remember that the terrorists we are after target civilians, and the death toll from their acts of terrorism against Muslims dwarfs any estimate of civilian casualties from drone strike
