As U.S. Faces New Scrutiny on Drones, U.N. Report Finds Hundreds of Civilian Deaths in Pakistan | Democracy Now!

As U.S. Faces New Scrutiny on Drones, U.N. Report Finds Hundreds of Civilian Deaths in Pakistan | Democracy Now!

The United Nations General Assembly will discuss Obama's drone policy today. Are there any circumstances in which you think drones should be used in conflict?

Ahead of unveiling his findings, Ben Emmerson, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, joins us in studio.

"The fact of the matter is that there are many crucial areas in this debate on which international lawyers disagree. And states disagree. The United States has an analysis which in some parts of the world is regarded as legally unsustainable, but in other parts of the world is regarded as credible and realistic," Emmerson says.

What laws of warfare should be respected in asymmetrical conflicts (where one party to a conflict is a non-state armed group labeled as a terrorist organization)?