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THE White House’s description on Tuesday of drone strikes as being legal, ethical and wise is not the first time the American government has characterised them that way. That formulation has been used before, including in a speech last year by the chief counterterrorism adviser, and senior legal officers from the government, the military and the CIA have argued publicly that drone strikes are legal. And yet the memo leaked this week that lays out the legal basis for them has attracted much more attention in the United States, perhaps because it focuses on strikes against American citizens. But the same human rights issues the American media has now raised also apply to Pakistanis, Somalis, Yemenis and citizens of other countries killed without trial in drone attacks. This memo and...