More than three years after President Barack Obama pledged to be transparent about the United States' lethal drone program, his administration has finally come forward with an accounting of the numbers of civilian deaths that resulted from drone strikes between Jan. 20, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2015.

U.S. drone strikes target extremists -- but civilians often pay the price.

"The Drone Papers" tell us the administration labels unidentified persons who are killed in a drone attack "enemies killed in action," unless there is evidence posthumously proving them innocent. Since the U.S. is involved in armed conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, international humanitarian law -- namely, the Geneva Conventions -- must be applied to assess the legality of targeted killing. The Geneva Conventions provide that only combatants may be targeted.