Includes bibliographical references and index.

"For the first time in our military history, how we wage war is being built around a single strategy: the tracking and elimination of "high value targets"--in other words, assassination by military drone. Kill Chain is the story of how this new paradigm came to be, from WWII to the present; revealing the inner workings of these military technologies; introducing the key figures behind the transformation as well as the people on whom these deadly technologies have been tested; and illuminating the effects of drone warfare on our global image. This book will shed new light on the subject, from drone development in WWII and their use in the Vietnam War, to their embrace by the Bush administration and their controversial use by President Obama today. Cockburn will detail the corporate and political agendas that have effectively legitimized the once-banned practice of assassination, and the devastating effects of drone strikes gone awry"--