button, and a small missile is fired. but some are asking whether years from now we ll debate drones the way we re debating torture. the use of these unmanned aerial vehicles that you refer to as drones in the counterterrorism effort has done tremendous work to keep this country safe. reporter: the cia s clandestine fleet of armed drones has become central to its counterterrorism mission. the secretive nature of the program means no one can tell for sure how many of the estimated 3500 people killed mostly in pakistan and yemen were insurgents and how many were innocent civilians. in u.s. public opinion, there is greater support for killing people than torturing them. reporter: why? it s hard to know why. i think we believe that individuals we can see with this high technology precise discriminate weapons platform is better at identifying who they are. but in fact, most of the individuals who we kill, we have much less information about than the individuals the 119
receives authorization, pushes a button, and a small missile is fired. but some are asking whether years from now we ll debate drones the way we re debating torture. the use of these unmanned aerial vehicles that you refer to as drones in the counterterrorism effort has done tremendous work to keep this country safe. reporter: the cia s clandestine fleet of armed drones has become central to its counterterrorism mission. the secretive nature of the program means no one can tell for sure how many of the estimated 3500 people killed mostly in pakistan and yemen were insurgents and how many were innocent civilians. in u.s. public opinion, there is greater support for killing people than torturing them. reporter: why? it s hard to know why. i think we believe that individuals we can see with this high technology precise discriminate weapons platform is better at identifying who they are. but in fact, most of the individuals who we kill, we have
military casualties. but critics argue it s killed thousands of innocent civilians in yemen and pakistan. here s our chief foreign correspondent, richard engel. reporter: it s become the weapon of choice in the war against islamic terrorists. a u.s. drone flies over a target thousands of miles away. the cia tracks the location, receives authorization, pushes a button, and a small missile is fired. but some are asking whether years from now we ll debate drones the way we re debating torture. the use of these unmanned aerial vehicles that you refer to as drones in the counterterrorism effort has done tremendous work to keep this country safe. reporter: the cia s clandestine fleet of armed drones has become central to its counterterrorism mission. the secretive nature of the program means no one can tell for sure how many of the estimated 3500 people killed